Correspondence from Bono Region

The Sunyani High Court has issued a restraining order against the Constituency Executive Members of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the Dormaa Central Constituency of the Bono Region.

Per the order of the High Court, all the twenty-four Constituency Executive Members in the Dormal Central Constituency have been barred and cannot participate in the National Delegates Congress which is scheduled for Saturday, December 17, 2022.

The restraining order comes after six aggrieved card-bearing members of the party in the Dormaa Central Constituency petitioned the court to seek two reliefs; “An order to declare the election of the defendants (Constituency Executives) as null and void and a perpetual injunction against the defendants from taking part in the National Delegates Congress.”

A portion of the statement of claim as granted by the court and sighted by this reporter reads:

“An order of a perpetual injunction restraining the 3rd-26th defendants from acting as the Dormaa Central Constituency Executive Members of the National Democratic Congress and also restraining the 3rd - 26th defendants from participating in the National Executive Congress taking part in the National Delegates Congress which would be held on the 10th and 17th December 2022 at Accra.”

According to Peter Mensah, one of the petitioners, they decided to seek redress in court after all attempts for the party to declare the fraudulent constituency election as null and void proved futile.

Citing the absence of the Electoral Commission to supervise and conduct the election, Peter Mensah maintained that, that proves that the purported constituency election contravened the party’s own stipulated guidelines.

“We have always maintained that the purported constituency election was fraudulently organized because the party’s guidelines mandate that the Electoral Commission should supervise the election but that was not the case. Sadly, all efforts for the right thing to be done proved futile so we went to court and we are glad that the court has spoken restraining them from carrying themselves as Executive Members of the National Democratic Congress in the Dormaa Central Constituency and by extension they cannot take part in the National Delegates Congress.”

Meanwhile, all efforts to speak to the National Democratic Congress (NDC) at the time of filing this report were unsuccessful but independent checks indicate that the restraining order has officially been on the National Democratic Congress (NDC), all Constituency Executive Members and Electoral Commission.