The presiding judge for the ongoing case between SALL and the Electoral Commission, His Lordship Justice Owoahene Acheampong, has expressed displeasure with lawyers of the EC for their habitual absence in court.
Justin Amenuvor, the lawyer for the Electoral Commission (EC), the first respondent of the matter, failed to appear in court Tuesday, June 18, 2024, when the matter was called.
This was during the hearing of an application by the lawyer for the petitioners, Philip Jimanor, for leave to file amended replies to answers filed by both 1st respondent, the Electoral Commission, as well as the 2nd respondent, John Peter Amewu, to the petition.According to the judge, the first lawyer who represented the Commission, Sekyi-Boampong, also did same before the new lawyer took over.
He expressed shock over why lawyers for the EC would not be in court and no representative of such a state institution would be in court either.
Benedict Kofitse, who appeared for the 2nd respondent did not oppose the application.
The petitioners application was granted by the court with the case being adjourned to Thursday June 20, 2024.
June 20th and 21st 2024 had earlier been set aside by the judge for the trial of the suit. The Petitioners have since filed the Amended Replies.
To date, no witness statement has been filed on behalf of the Electoral Commission. The Electoral Commission has filed the list of registered voters in the Santrokofi-Apkafu-Lolobi and Lipke (SALL) traditional areas at the time of the 7th December 2020 Parliamentary election as ordered by the court on June 03, 2024.
It will be recalled that on December 6, 2020, a day before the general election, the EC directed that residents in the SALL areas could only vote in the presidential election.
Since then, the constituents have been without representation in Parliament.
The development, which many have criticised the EC for, is what the Deputy Chairperson of the Commission, Dr. Eric Bossman Asare, has said the institution to blame for the mishap is Parliament and not the EC.
EC’s denial of blame for disenfranchising SALL constituents ‘brazenly dishonest’ – Franklin Cudjoe
