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ABU RAMADAN & EVANS NIMAKO v. THE ELECTORAL COMMISSION & THE ATTORNEY GENERAL

July 5, 2016

SUPREME COURT

GHANA

CORAM

  • WOOD (MRS), CJ (PRESIDING)
  • ANIN YEBOAH JSC
  • BAFFOE-BONNIE JSC
  • GBADEGBE JSC
  • BENIN JSC

Areas of Law

  • Constitutional Law
  • Civil Procedure
  • Administrative Law

AI Generated Summary

The Ghana Supreme Court, per Gbadegbe JSC with Wood CJ, Anin Yeboah JSC, Baffoe-Bonnie JSC, and Benin JSC concurring, addressed a post‑judgment application by plaintiffs‑judgment creditors seeking clarification of its May 5, 2016 orders governing the voters register. Invoking inherent jurisdiction and Rule 5 of CI 16 (1992), applicants asked the Court to declare that “delete or clean” required immediate removal of names of registrants who used National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) cards, and to authorize ancillary steps. Respondents argued that applicants improperly sought substantive declarations and that no ambiguity existed. The Court upheld objections to reliefs (b), (c), and (d) on jurisdictional and res judicata/merger grounds, noting the prior refusal of a non‑statutory “validation” method and that reissuing an existing order was unnecessary. Clarifying relief (a), the Court held that under Article 2(2) the Electoral Commission must immediately remove names of NHIS‑card registrants, give adequate notice, and allow re‑registration; removal must precede re‑registration and the constitutional order prevails over CI 91.

RULING