NEW VISION PARTY v. ELECTORAL COMMISSION OF GHANA (EC)

A presidential aspirant sued the Electoral Commission of Ghana after the Commission refused to accept and register his presidential nomination forms, seeking declaratory and mandatory reliefs and inclusion on the 7 December 2012 ballot. He also applied for an interlocutory injunction to restrain the Commission from printing presidential ballot papers pending the suit. The Court, per Justice Dennis D. Adjei (JA), raised jurisdiction suo motu and examined whether the matter was properly brought as a fundamental rights enforcement under Article 33 or within the High Court’s general jurisdiction under Article 140 and Section 15 of Act 459. The Court held that fundamental rights enforcement must be initiated by application under Order 67 of C.I. 47, not by writ; thus, that avenue was rejected. It further held the High Court had jurisdiction since the suit did not challenge the validity of the presidential election under Article 64. Applying principles governing interlocutory injunctions—rights, balance of convenience, and public policy—the Court found national hardship and constitutional risk outweighed the Plaintiff’s personal hardship and refused the injunction.