Amend NPP Act to stop last-minute injunctions on elections – Lawyer

Upper East Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party(NPP) Lawyer Anthony Namoo has called for an amendment to the party’s act to stop last-minute injunctions on elections.

According to him, the current provision and position of the Act is being mischievously used by individuals to injunct elections mostly on the verge of the conduct of the elections.

Close to 300 members of the Tertiary Students Confederacy (TESCON) of the NPP were barred from casting their votes in the just-ended 2022 National Delegates Conference which saw the election of new national executives.

“Our TESCON delegates and local proxy voters numbering 15 and 291 will not be able to cast their votes because there is an injunction. We received the injunction last night,” Chairman of the election committee Mr Peter Mac Manu announced to the conference.

Commenting on the matter on Asaase Radio monitored by MyNewsGh.com, the Upper East Regional Chairman and private legal practitioner said such injunctions frustrate electoral processes.

He argued that just like the Chieftaincy Act which has been amended to stop the filing of injunctions fees hours or days to the installation of Chiefs, the political party Act must also be looked at and provisions made for injunctions to be filed at least two weeks to the day of elections.

“I think the Political Party Act should be looked at. Whether NDC or NPP you’re doing an election and two days to the elections someone goes to court to place an injunction. You know in the Chieftaincy Act [because] somebody is going to be installed as a chief, another person waits and at the last-minute, he goes to bring an injunction. So in the Chieftaincy Act, a provision was made that fourteen (14) days to the installation, you cannot bring an injunction. So we should have a similar provision so that if somebody thinks that there is something wrong, he should go to court early and let the thing be on notice” he said.

Lawyer Anamoo recounted how he proactively got a last-minute injunction on the Upper East Regional elections dismissed because he was privileged to have gotten wind of the information early and quickly arrived at the court before the lawyers of the plaintiffs arrived.