Supreme Court dismisses Ward-Brew’s case against EC

The Supreme Court (SC) on Wednesday dismissed a suit filed by the flag bearer of the Democratic People’s Party (DPP), praying the Court to order the Electoral Commission (EC) to postpone the December 7, elections.

Mr Thomas Nuako Ward-Brew, in his suit argued that he was not in the country when the apex court offered all disqualified nominees a lifeline to correct mistakes on their nomination form.

He stated that the EC failed to adequately inform all nominees of the window of opportunity once the court gave that order, and prayed that the court ordered the Commission to postpone the general election.

He said a postponement of the polls would offer nominees who were earlier disqualified an opportunity to effectively campaign.

However the seven-member SC panel, presided over by Justice Sophia Adehyira, said the court had considered the application on its merit and procedure and realised that it had no merit both in form and substance.

She said the procedure for which the applicant was in court had already been disposed off on November 7, and that he could not properly invoke the original jurisdiction of the court.

According to the panel the point on which the applicant was basing his case was in Nigeria where the declaration given was frivolous and had no substance and therefore no merit.

The court noted that his party was not a one man party and therefore he could have delegated others to submit the forms on his behalf, adding that the court also realised that the applicant was not vigilant when he was filling his nomination form.

A cost of GH¢3,000 was awarded to the defendant

Mr Ward-Brew is among nine other presidential hopefuls who were disqualified for not meeting the EC’s requirements in the filling of nomination forms.

He went to court after three of the 12, including the PPP’s Dr Paa Kwesi Nduom, NDP’s Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings, and the PNC’s Dr Edward Mahama, were admitted back onto the ballot, bringing the number of contestants to seven.

This was made possible by a Supreme Court ruling, after the EC had gone there to quash a High Court ruling that rejected Dr Nduom’s earlier disqualification, and asked the Commission to allow him ample time to correct the errors on his forms.

Source: GNA