Issues like filing requirements: signatures, endorsers, resident addresses and others being cited by the Electoral Commission are all simple clerical errors and therefore immaterial issues which the Commission can easily rect ... read full comment
Issues like filing requirements: signatures, endorsers, resident addresses and others being cited by the Electoral Commission are all simple clerical errors and therefore immaterial issues which the Commission can easily rectify by calling attention of the presidential candidates and giving them ample opportunities to correct.
The Commission did not, and even if it did, the notion that some people were not even able to make the corrections within the stipulated deadlines is still not grounds enough to disqualify them.
We should note that there is a more overriding democratic, legal and even social reasons why we should accommodate such late filings through the use of the enormous administrative powers given to the Electoral Commission. However, in lieu of any such genuine efforts on the part of the Commission to give the opportunity for the candidates to correct the filing errors, the commission has summarily disqualified them, setting a very dangerous precedent within our democratic dispensation.
A lot of people have asked what if it were the NDC or NPP candidates that were disqualified under these spurious and petty reasons? The answer is simply that that disaster is merely waiting to happen if the present decision of the EC is allowed to stand. In the elections of the future, any of the major candidates could be summarily disqualified by the Electoral Commissioner. What we are seeing today is in preparation of the real deal some time in the future, trust me. That is when those who are praising this present decision by the EC and laughing about it will then be weeping and gnashing their teeth.
We have to remember that the intention of the framers of our constitution is not to make the Electoral Commission the ultimate decider of who is elected to be President or Parliamentarian in Ghana. Those people did not contemplate that the time will come when a single agency will just get up to issue fiats disqualifying those who would serve the country. That power to make a choice of the leadership of this country resides with the people themselves, in whom all sovereign power is vested by the constitution. Administrative bodies like the Electoral Commission are there to perform the unintrusive and self-effacing function of smoothly overseeing the exercise of the franchise by the Ghanaian people, and not to create artificial obstacles that will obstruct the people’s choice.
In all its function therefore, the posture of the Commission should be to liberally construe the laws and statutes in such a way that they will facilitate the ends of its agency functions, purpose and goals: By giving the people themselves the ultimate choice in electing their leaders, not to constrict, by some artificiality and technicality, the citizens’ freedom to choose their leaders.
Sometimes, when you consider how our institutions apply the law, you wonder if they take into account the basic processes of statutory interpretation and prudential wisdom that must undergird the statutory construction. They often forget that their interpretation of the laws and statutes must be shaped by our general democratic philosophy and prevailing social principles and values. Of course, the plain words of a statute matter but where they lead to absurd consequences, they must be filtered through legislative history and intent, applicable precedent as well as simple commonsense. That is why we must avoid the authoritarian and summary interpretations that can only lead this country into an abyss.
We are convinced that the basis for the disqualification of the twelve/thirteen presidential aspirants is flawed ab initio, but that on its own, the Commission should rescind its decision as a matter of course.
Absent this, the Commission’s work in this 2016 elections is going to be embroiled in legal tussles whose end is both unforeseen and unforeseeable. And the Commission, as well as the general Ghanaian people, will clearly be the worse for it.
Prof Lungu 7 years ago
You've written a lot here, Dr. SAS, Attorney at Law.
And you are speaking as if every one of the 12/13 might have a case, in equal measure.
You say that "...the Commission should rescind its decision as a matter of c ... read full comment
You've written a lot here, Dr. SAS, Attorney at Law.
And you are speaking as if every one of the 12/13 might have a case, in equal measure.
You say that "...the Commission should rescind its decision as a matter of course...(or else)...the Commission’s work in this 2016 elections is going to be embroiled in legal tussles...".
Where are you going to start?
From the discredited call by Dr. Bawumia for a "new electoral register"?
From those along the border reportedly cheating?
From those found to have already used their one voucher once, and them doubled down for another party/candidate?
From those claiming forgery of their names?
Dr. SAS, Attorney at Law, you wrote a lot and made that passive statement:
"...the Commission’s work in this 2016 elections is going to be embroiled in legal tussles...".
But, we did not read you ask the "aggrieved" to go directly to court given time constraint.
What gives today, Massa?
Prof Lungu 7 years ago
Pardon our French...
To say...
From those found to have already used their one voucher once, and then doubling down for another party/candidate?
Pardon our French...
To say...
From those found to have already used their one voucher once, and then doubling down for another party/candidate?
Odeneho Nana Yaw Owusu Mensah 7 years ago
Am proud of you madam,no time for any impersonate,just by the use of law and the law alone',bravooooooooo.....
Am proud of you madam,no time for any impersonate,just by the use of law and the law alone',bravooooooooo.....
KA 7 years ago
We can never trust our institutions to ALWAYS do the right thing. And this goes for ALL our institutions including the EC.
There is a certain way we Ghanaians do things that leaves a lot of loopholes in place. Even at fac ... read full comment
We can never trust our institutions to ALWAYS do the right thing. And this goes for ALL our institutions including the EC.
There is a certain way we Ghanaians do things that leaves a lot of loopholes in place. Even at face value, it is surprising and very suspicious that only the two major parties and one independent candidate passed the standards according to the EC's interpretation of the rules.
Never trust Ghanaian institutions to do the right thing always. This has been true since the beginning of our independence. Parliament, the Judiciary, the Legal Council responsible for registering lawyers, the media, universities, the civil and public services - you name it... It's not beyond any of them to bungle it at times, indeed, even often. It is this attitude that allows people without law certificates to be registered as lawyers in the country and people with two PhDs in three years from unknown universities to become professors and vice chancellors in state universities.
There's so much arbitrariness in the system. If the EC wants to stop the disqualification of some, or all, of the now disqualified persons it can easily do it. If Charlotte Osei wakes up one fine morning and tells her staff to revoke the disqualication of some of the disqualified, it will be done immediately. We are so much in awe of authority!
The EC can redeem its image by immediately allowing all the disqualified parties and candidates to re-submit their papers and helping them to rectify all the anomalies in the forms. The EC must be seen to sufficiently bend over to accommodate the applicants, not behave like a stern headmaster. If after all the magnanimity, some of the candidates are still found wanting in the fulfillment of the basic conditions, then, and only then, should they be regarded as disqualified. The public will be with the EC on this.
There are still more than 40 days to the election and this can be done.
francis kwarteng 7 years ago
What's up KA?
Thanks for your observations.
But let me just add that the EC has consistently made the claim that what they did was withing the law, so why don't we allow the courts to decide on the matter?
This ques ... read full comment
What's up KA?
Thanks for your observations.
But let me just add that the EC has consistently made the claim that what they did was withing the law, so why don't we allow the courts to decide on the matter?
This question counts among many of the issues I raised in my piece! Yes, I support the disqualified parties taking the EC to court!
I think that is the best option for now. That said, I think Madam Charlotte Osei should maintain her resolve in order that her critics do not compel her to go against EC laws!
Let's wait and see!
Thanks.
ADJOA WANGARA 7 years ago
Will this bloody stupid full idiot francis kwarteng shut his "snout"?
Will this bloody stupid full idiot francis kwarteng shut his "snout"?
Prof Lungu 7 years ago
Kudos,
Francis Kwarteng!
For, whatever the outcome should any one or more of the cases go to trial, Ms. Osei would have done her job according to the law.
Ms. Charlotte Osei is a great credit to the legal profession in ... read full comment
Kudos,
Francis Kwarteng!
For, whatever the outcome should any one or more of the cases go to trial, Ms. Osei would have done her job according to the law.
Ms. Charlotte Osei is a great credit to the legal profession in Ghana, and to the Ghana Electoral Commission.
Just like Martin Amidu!
Just like Prof Asare!
Prof Lungu 7 years ago
Ms. Charlotte Osei
For great credit to the legal profession in Ghana
For great credit to the organization she heads, the Ghana Electoral Commission.
Peace!
Ms. Charlotte Osei
For great credit to the legal profession in Ghana
For great credit to the organization she heads, the Ghana Electoral Commission.
Issues like filing requirements: signatures, endorsers, resident addresses and others being cited by the Electoral Commission are all simple clerical errors and therefore immaterial issues which the Commission can easily rect ...
read full comment
You've written a lot here, Dr. SAS, Attorney at Law.
And you are speaking as if every one of the 12/13 might have a case, in equal measure.
You say that "...the Commission should rescind its decision as a matter of c ...
read full comment
Pardon our French...
To say...
From those found to have already used their one voucher once, and then doubling down for another party/candidate?
Am proud of you madam,no time for any impersonate,just by the use of law and the law alone',bravooooooooo.....
We can never trust our institutions to ALWAYS do the right thing. And this goes for ALL our institutions including the EC.
There is a certain way we Ghanaians do things that leaves a lot of loopholes in place. Even at fac ...
read full comment
What's up KA?
Thanks for your observations.
But let me just add that the EC has consistently made the claim that what they did was withing the law, so why don't we allow the courts to decide on the matter?
This ques ...
read full comment
Will this bloody stupid full idiot francis kwarteng shut his "snout"?
Kudos,
Francis Kwarteng!
For, whatever the outcome should any one or more of the cases go to trial, Ms. Osei would have done her job according to the law.
Ms. Charlotte Osei is a great credit to the legal profession in ...
read full comment
Ms. Charlotte Osei
For great credit to the legal profession in Ghana
For great credit to the organization she heads, the Ghana Electoral Commission.
Peace!
Point we'll taken Prof Lungu.
Thanks.
tweeeaaaa