DANIEL NSALA WAKPAL v. MATHEW NYINDAM
2025
HIGH COURT
GHANA
CORAM
- HIS LORDSHIP JUSTICE EMMANUEL BART-PLANGE BREW
Areas of Law
- Constitutional Law
- Administrative Law
- Evidence Law
- Civil Procedure
2025
HIGH COURT
GHANA
CORAM
AI Generated Summary
Sitting at the High Court, Justice Emmanuel Bart-Plange Brew adjudicated a petition by Daniel Nsala Wakpal challenging the Electoral Commission’s declaration of Mathew Nyindam as MP-elect for the Kpandai Constituency following the 7 December 2024 election. The court found that violence disrupted collation at the Kpandai centre and that the EC unlawfully relocated the process to Tamale without adequate notice, excluding the Petitioner and his agents from resumed collation, and failing to furnish Form 1C and Form 1D as mandated by Regulation 43 of C.I. 127. The judge concluded that non-compliance with mandatory procedures and the absence of the critical Form 1C rendered the declaration unreliable. Given destruction of electoral materials and inability to re‑collate, the court declared the election void under section 20(b) of PNDCL 284 and ordered a rerun to vindicate constitutional requirements of transparency and fairness.
Respectfully my Lords, the facts of this case are as follows:
The Petitioner was the candidate of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the 2024 Parliamentary Election held in the Kpandai Constituency on 7th December, 2024.
The 1st Respondent was a candidate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the Parliamentary election held in the Kpandai Constituency on 7th December, 2024, and was declared the Member of Parliament elect by the 2nd Respondent.
The 2nd Respondent is the Electoral Commission of the Republic of Ghana with the duty and mandate to conduct of elections, enforce and administer all laws and regulations relative to the conduct of elections and referendums.
On the 7th day of December, 2024, the Electoral Commission of Ghana, the 2nd Respondent herein, conducted Parliamentary elections in the Kpandai Constituency of the Northern Region of Ghana.
At the end of the election, the 2nd Respondent declared the 1st Respondent, Mathew Nyindam (candidate of the New Patriotic Party), as the winner of the election and, by extension, the Member of Parliament elect for the Kpandai Constituency.
a. That there are irregularities and inconsistencies contained in FORM 8A (Regulation 32 (7) and 39(2) Statement of Polls for the Office of Member of Parliament (Pink Sheet) for Forty-one (41) polling stations out of a total of One hundred and fifty-two (152) polling stations in the Kpandai Constituency.
b. That the parliamentary election held in the Kpandai Constituency on 7th December 2024 was not conducted in compliance with Regulations 39 of the Public Elections Regulations, 2020 (C.I. 127) and the principles laid down by Regulations 39 and that the said non-compliance affected the results of the elections.
c. That the declaration and publication of the Parliamentary election results held in the Kpandai Constituency on 7th December 2024 was not made in compliance wit