Mahama's contender can place injunction on NDC primaries - Prof. Attafuah

Private legal practitioner, Professor Ken Agyeman Attafuah has backed a decision the National Democratic Congress' presidential hopeful, George Boateng, to sue the party for its refusal to sell a presidential nomination form to him.

Attempts by the 45-year-old freight-forwarder to secure a copy of the party’s presidential nomination form to enable him contest President John Mahama in the November 7 primaries has been thwarted by the party.

The party’s Deputy General Secretary, Koku Anyidoho, has said the party will not sell the form to Mr. Boateng on the grounds that the man has declared he would legalise the sale of marijuana if he becomes the president.

Some party executives have also claimed Mr. Boateng is mentally deranged, hence cannot qualify to contest as a presidential candidate of the party in the primaries.

But speaking on the issue on the newspaper review segment of TV3’s New Day, Prof. Attafuah said the decision by the party “smacks of administrative injustice” hence urged Mr. Boateng to pursue the matter in court.

Quoting Article 23 of the country’s Constitution, he said, “administrative bodies and administrative officials shall act fairly and reasonably and comply with the laws imposed on them.”

He noted the NDC is an administrative body and for it to refuse to sell its presidential nomination form to Mr. Boateng on the basis of his resolve to legalise marijuana was not fair.

“That judgement, I think on that fiat, has not been properly exercised. It violates our Constitution, which says the exercise of discretionary powers shall not be punctuated by malice,” he stated.

“It is arbitrary, it is capricious, it is not like picking up tomatoes in the market where you can pick and change…I think he has a case,” Prof. Attafuah said.

He said the party could have allowed Mr. Boateng to pick the form, and let the NDC electorate to decide the sanity or otherwise of the man, adding, “They would have acted fairly and reasonably…

Prof. Attafuah said, “Those making that decision that he has a mental disability do not have the authority to certify him so.”

He said Article 55(5) required that the NDC as a political party, “shall conform to democratic principles and its actions and purpose shall not contravene or be inconsistent with this constitution”.