2022
SUPREME COURT
GHANA
CORAM
AI Generated Summary
The Supreme Court of Ghana, per Justice Yonny Kulendi, entertained an original action filed on November 19, 2020 seeking interpretation of “active party politics” in Article 276(1) and declarations about chiefs’ endorsements during the 2020 election. The Plaintiff relied on media-reported statements attributed to chiefs, including Osagyefo Amoatia Ofori Panin II and Nana Owusu Kontoh II, allegedly favoring Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo (NPP) or John Dramani Mahama (NDC). The National House of Chiefs was initially joined but later disjoined, leaving the Attorney-General to defend, arguing that “active party politics” meant candidature and that chiefs retained Article 21 speech rights. After an extensive historical and purposive analysis of chieftaincy’s role and constitutional context, the Court held that “active party politics” extends beyond candidature and includes personal endorsements of a candidate or party, which breach Article 276(1), while policy/programme/project endorsements are permissible. Exercising evidentiary caution, the Court treated the exhibits as contextual and unanimously dismissed the writ in part.
KULENDI JSC:-
The Plaintiff, a citizen of Ghana, commenced this action on the 19th day of November 2020, invoking the original jurisdiction of this Court under Articles 2(1) and 130(1)(a) of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana and Rule 45 of the Supreme Court Rules, 1996, C.I 24 and claiming the following reliefs:
a.An interpretation of the phrase “active party politics” as used in Article 276 (1) of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana.
b.A declaration that certain Chiefs who, during the electioneering campaign leading up to the 2020 General Elections, “endorsed” one or the other of the presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, and the presidential candidate of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), John Dramani Mahama, were, by virtue of such endorsement, involved in “active party politics,” per the intent and purpose of Article 276(1) of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana.
c.That an endorsement by a Chief of any presidential and or parliamentary candidate prior to, during and after a presidential election amounts to a breach of Article 276 (1) of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana, and same amounts to an engagement in ‘active party politics’ as purposed and intended under Article 276 of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana.
d.Any other reliefs that this Honorable Court deems fit under the circumstances.
I.BACKGROUND
In the run-up to the 2020 General Elections, the electioneering mood in the country provided, as usual, a context and an opportunity for robust debates, commentaries, and expressions of diverse opinion of a political and partisan nature by various members of the general public. In this electioneering atmosphere, certain eminent Paramount Chiefs allegedly made statements, which according to the Plaintiff, amounted to endorsing one or the other of the presidential candidates of the two main rival political parties, namely the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Party (NDC). The Plaintiff alleges, for instance, that while Osagyefo Amoatia Ofori Panin II, the Paramount Chief of the Akyem Abuakwa Traditional Area endorsed the presidential candidate of the NPP, President Nana Akufo-Addo, Nana Owusu Kontoh II, Omanhene of Mehame Traditional Area, endorsed the presidential candidate of the NDC, former President John Mahama. According to the Plaintiff, such endorsements of presidential candidates by chiefs are impermissible, as, in his view, they conflict with Article 276(1) of the 1992 Constitution.
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