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Former President, John Dramani Mahama, has criticised the Registrar of the Supreme Court for failing to set a date for hearing an application for interlocutory injunction to restrain the Electoral Commission (EC) from proceeding with the limited voter registration exercise.

Injunction

Five political parties: the NDC, Convention People's Party (CPP), All People's Congress (APC), Liberal Party of Ghana (LPG) and the Great Consolidated People's Party (GCPP), have filed an injunction against the EC to refrain them from proceeding with the limited voter registration exercise. 

However, Deputy Commissioner of the EC in charge of Corporate Services, Dr Bossman Eric Asare says the Commission has not been served.

Meanwhile, the Electoral Commission (EC) has begun the Limited Voter Registration exercise across the country today despite the injunction.

Mahama Criticize

Reacting to this on his Facebook page, Mr Mahama wrote:

"Contrary to the time-honoured practice of the Registrar of the Supreme Court giving dates for applications to be moved, the Registrar has, as of this afternoon, refused to provide a date for the application for interlocutory injunction filed against the Electoral Commission (EC) in relation to the Commission’s decision to limit the upcoming voter registration exercise to its district offices only.

The writ and the injunction application were duly filed at the Registry of the Supreme Court on Thursday, 7th September 2023, at 2:50 p.m.

The Registrar informed the applicants’ representatives that they were awaiting the date to be given by the Chief Justice, who was outside the jurisdiction at the time. The Chief Justice returned and travelled to Cape Coast for the Bar Conference. As I write, the applicants’ representatives are still waiting at the registry of the Supreme Court.

This is unprecedented and does not augur well for public confidence in the justice delivery system.

In 2012, when a Ghanaian citizen decided to challenge the creation of the 45 new constituencies, the Supreme Court had a sole judge to decide the interlocutory injunction application in a timely manner. Indeed, the practice of assigning single justices to hear interlocutory applications for an injunction has happened several times in the cases of Ekwam v. Pianim, Welford Quarcoo v. Attorney General and Ransford France v. Electoral Commission & Attorney General.

The EC starts the lopsided registration exercise tomorrow for which this process is being filed, and yet we all know the famous mantra, "Justice delayed, is justice denied."