2012
SUPREME COURT
GHANA
CORAM
AI Generated Summary
The Supreme Court of Ghana, per Sophia A. B. Akuffo JSC, addressed a suit by citizens seeking declarations and mandatory orders compelling the Electoral Commission (EC) to redraw constituency boundaries under Article 47 of the 1992 Constitution following the 2010 census. The plaintiffs argued the EC’s past and intended demarcations violate the egalitarian principle of fair representation, citing practices like one constituency per district and a 9:1 weighting favoring population over land size. The Court framed the central issue as whether its original jurisdiction had been properly invoked. Acknowledging the plaintiffs’ standing, the Court held that Article 48 provides a specific tribunal-and-appeal path for boundary demarcation disputes, and the EC is presumed to act lawfully where it has yet to act. Concluding that the suit was improperly before it, the Court dismissed the case and directed the plaintiffs to the newly constituted Article 48 tribunal.
J U D G M E N T.
SOPHIA A. B. AKUFFO (MS) J.S.C;
The Plaintiffs, by their Writ filed on 22nd July 2011, claimed the following reliefs: -
“A declaration that upon a true and proper interpretation of Article 47 clauses (3) (4) and (7) of the Constitution 1992, the boundaries of Constituencies, as demarcated by the Electoral Commission of Ghana shall be made so as to ensure that it is in accordance with the egalitarian principle of fair representation solidly embodied in the Constitution
“An order directed against the Electoral Commission of Ghana to review the boundaries of all constituencies as they exist now by altering them in order to conform with Article 47 (3) and (4) emphasising more on population distribution in accordance with the egalitarian principle of fair representation solidly embodied in the Constitution.
“A further order directed against the Electoral Commission of Ghana to review the 230 Constituencies as they stand now by altering them following the publication of the enumeration figures after the holding of the 2010 Population Census in accordance with the egalitarian principle of fair representation solidly embodied in the Constitution.”
In support of these claims, the Plaintiffs in their Statement of Case made various assertions which may be summarised as follows: -
Despite the dictates of article 47, particularly clauses (1), (3) and (7), the Electoral Commission of Ghana (hereinafter variously referred to as “EC or 1st Defendant”.) has since the year 2000 made alterations to constituency boundaries that are in contravention of these said provisions.
The practice adopted by the EC, as evidenced by the manner in which constituency boundaries had been drawn in previous years, fails to take into account “the philosophy behind representation of the people in a democratic process which is to ensure that the inhabitants of a nation are adequately represented in Parliament”, and the same practice, moreover, contravenes the letter and spirit of Chapter 7 of the Constitution, dealing with the representation of the people, as well as other laws and Constitutional Instruments made by Parliament and the EC.
The past practice/conduct of the EC, has been arbitrary and inconsistent with the letter and spirit of the Constitution; such practice include:
i. the insistence by the EC that each district of Ghana must have a constituency.
ii. the EC’s insistence on giving a 9 point weight to population and a 1 point weight to land size.
Such pra