[ 2012-07-07 ]

Seven file for Wulensi by-election despite legal threats
Seven candidates, including one independent, had
filed their nominations to contest the Wulensi
by-election as of the close of nominations on
Wednesday, in spite of the suit by three political
parties against the Electoral Commission (EC) on
its decision to organise the by-election using the
old voters register.

They are Mr Imoro Sualey for the New Vision Party;
Mr Damba Issah for the Progressive People's Party
(PPP); Mr Nlenkiba Abraham for the Independent
People's Party (IPP); Mr Haruna Musah for the
Convention People's Party (CPP); Mr Thomas Donkor
Ogajah for the New Patriotic Party( NPP); Laliri
George Maban for the National Democratic Congress
(NDC), and Mohammed Adam, the independent
candidate.

On Wednesday, the NDC, the NPP and the CPP joined
forces to sue the EC over the Wulensi by-election
but, according to the Deputy Northern Regional
Director of the EC, Mr Godwin Okly, the commission
was only performing its constitutional mandate and
that the law would decide.

Meanwhile, there are mixed reactions from the NDC,
the NPP and the CPP in the Northern Region
regarding the decision of the EC to go ahead with
the Wulensi by-election on July 31, 2012.

The Northern Regional Secretary of the NPP, Mr
Clifford Braimah, speaking in an interview, said
the EC should explain how a candidate of the NPP
filed his nomination to contest the by-election
when the party was not in agreement with the EC's
decision.

He said the EC's action was a deliberate attempt
to disenfranchise some sections of the electorate
by refusing to use the new voters register.

“We did not introduce any candidate to the EC and
so how come we have a candidate? The EC is rushing
things and I do not know why,” he stated.

The Northern Regional Treasurer of the NDC, Mr
Rashid Tanko, for his part, noted that all the
parties had fielded candidates for the
by-election, although some parties were not in
agreement with the EC's decision to go ahead with
the by-election.

According to Mr Tanko, the timing of the
by-election was wrong, since the candidate who
would get the nod would serve his constituents for
only three weeks in Parliament.

He intimated that if the parties contesting the
issue in court lost the case, the NDC would have
no choice but take part in the election, since it
was the outcome of the case and the law that would
determine the next course of action.

The Northern Regional Treasurer of the CPP, Alhaji
Iddrisu Mahama, was of the view that if the ruling
of the court went in favour of the EC, then the
CPP would go by that decision.

He, however, indicated that the CPP would rather
the EC used the new voters register, since it was
more transparent than the old register.

“For now, we have a credible candidate and we will
not pull out and allow other parties to win the
seat. Let us wait for the court to decide on the
matter,” he said.

Source - Daily Graphic

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