Electoral Commission

A. Kwabena BrakopowersDecember 31, 2024
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EXPLAINER: Ghana’s Supreme Court’s ruling and its effects on EC’s re-collation of results

Introduction

Ghana’s Supreme Court has quashed a High Court order to re-collate results in four constituencies in the Dec. 7, 2024, Parliamentary election for failing to hear out an interested party.

The apex court’s decision invalidates the Electoral Commission (EC)’s re-collation of results in Okaikwei Central, Ablekuma North, Tema Central, and Techiman South constituencies.

The Court, however, upheld the re-collation exercise in the Nsawam-Adoagyiri and Ahafo Ano North constituencies since the results and winners there had not been announced and declared as of the time the High Court made the order.

Background facts of the matter

As narrated in court, the case facts are that six Member of Parliament aspirants of Ghana’s governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) separately applied to the High Court for an order of mandamus directed at the Electoral Commission to collate results in their constituencies.

A mandamus is a legal tool that a court issues to compel a government official or agency to perform a specific duty imposed by law.

The application filed on Dec. 17, 2024, affected these constituencies – Okaikwei Central, Ablekuma North, Tema Central, Nsawam-Adoagyiri, Ahafo Ano North, and Techiman South.

The Returning Officers in four constituencies—Okaikwei Central, Ablekuma North, Tema Central, and Techiman South—had earlier announced the results and declared the winners.

The opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) parliamentary candidates were declared winners in these constituencies: Ebi Bright (Tema Central), Baba Sadiq (Okaikwei Central), Ewurabena Aubynn (Ablekuma North), and Christopher Beyere Baasongti (Techiman South). However, the EC rejected the results announced in these constituencies, explaining that its officers were “threatened, beaten, and forced to declare results under duress.”

When the High Court heard the application the NPP parliamentary candidates filed, it did not grant an audience to the NDC candidates who had earlier been declared winners and proceeded to make the order.

Godwin Edudzi Tamakloe, the lawyer for the affected parliamentary candidates, told the country’s Supreme Court that the High Court’s failure to hear out his clients occasioned a “miscarriage of justice” and asked the re-collation order be quashed.

See minutes 6:00 to 11:02 of the court’s proceedings on Dec. 27, 2024, uploaded on YouTube by Accra-based Joy News.

On his part, Gary Nimako Marfo, the lawyer for the six NPP parliamentary candidates, did not contradict the facts the NDC candidates presented in court, except that the High Court heard all affected parties.

Also, see minutes 1:08:38 to 1:11:44 of the court’s proceedings uploaded on YouTube by Accra-based Joy News.

Acting on the orders of the High Court, the EC re-collated results in six constituencies: Nsawam-Adoagyiri, Tema Central, Ahafo Ano North, Okaikwei Central, Ahafo Ano South West, and Techiman South Constituency. NPP parliamentary candidates were declared winners in these constituencies.

The Commission has gazetted the parliamentary results in 274 constituencies out of 276 and submitted the names to the Clerk of Parliament.

Aggrieved by the High Court’s orders, which led to the Commission’s re-collation exercise, the NDC parliamentary candidates invoked the Supreme Court’s supervisory jurisdiction to quash the lower court’s ruling.

Ghana’s Supreme Court and High Court are the only courts in the country vested with supervisory jurisdiction to question the actions of lower courts and administrative bodies. See Articles 132 and 141 of the 1992 Constitution.

The country’s 1992 Constitution gives the two courts the power to issue orders and directions to enforce compliance with this jurisdiction. These orders include habeas corpus, certiorari (quash), mandamus, prohibition, and quo warranto.

Supreme Court’s ruling on the matter

In deciding whether to make an order of certiorari to quash the High Court’s order to re-collate the results made on Dec. 20, 2024, Ghana’s apex court asked itself one question.

“Whether under the circumstances that the trial judge was faced with could he have proceeded to determine the mandamus applications without hearing the applicants in the form of affidavit evidence and legal submissions on whether the case before him, notwithstanding non-opposition by the Electoral Commission was a proper case for the grant of mandamus?”

Delivering the decision of the court, Justice Gabriel Pwamang said, “It was plain to the trial [High Court] judge that the client of Mr Godwin Edudzi Tamakloe stood to be affected by the proceedings in the mandamus application, and the least he could have done was to grant them a hearing on the facts and the law upon which the application was brought.”

The court held that the right to a “hearing [is] so sacrosanct that on the circumstances of this case, the applicant ought to have been given a hearing. Notwithstanding or irrespective of the provisions of Order 4 rule 5 of CI 47 on Joinder generally and Order 55 on Judicial Review.”

See minutes 12:20 to 13:13 of the Supreme Court’s decision uploaded on YouTube by Accra-based Joy News.

Responding to the contention made by the lawyer for the NPP parliamentary candidates that the NDC candidates were heard, the apex court said, “Hearing plainly requires that the applicants would have filed an application in the matter and to have made legal submissions.”

The Supreme Court noted that this did not happen, resulting in the High Court violating the applicant’s hearing rights.

See minutes 15:12 to 15:29 of the Supreme Court’s decision uploaded on YouTube by Accra-based Joy News.

Orders made by the Supreme Court following its decision

Holding that the High Court did not hear the affected NDC parliamentary candidates, the Supreme Court quashed the lower court’s order of mandamus to re-collate the results in the four constituencies.

“Since the orders which have been brought to be quashed are separate and distinct, we have decided to exercise our discretionary power to quash by certiorari having regard to the peculiar circumstances of each ruling. Consequently, we hereby quash by mandamus [the orders of the High Court and] accordingly the collation of results in the above constituencies by the Electoral Commission are hereby set aside,” Ghana’s apex court said.

See minutes 15:29 to 21:18 of the Supreme Court’s decision uploaded on YouTube by Accra-based Joy News.

However, the court did not quash the collation of results in Nsawam-Adoagyiri and Ahafo Ano North because the affected NDC parliamentary candidates did not indicate to the court that the winners in those constituencies had been declared.

“We have taken note of the fact that the applicants did not contend that there had been earlier completed collation in respect of Nsawam-Adoagyiri and Ahafo Ano North constituencies per paragraph 8 of the affidavit sworn to by Fifi Fiavi Kwetey dated 16 Dec. in support of the motion for judicial review filed by the applicants on 16 Dec. 2024,” the court said.

On the issue of bias raised against the High Court judge, the Supreme Court said it was not persuaded by the argument presented by the lawyer for the NDC parliamentary candidates. “We are not satisfied that sufficient evidence has been provided by the applicant,” the court said.

“Nevertheless, in line with maintaining the integrity of the process – we hereby direct that the application for mandamus shall be placed before a different High Court judge for hearing and determination,” the Supreme Court added.

Implications of the Supreme Court’s decision

The Supreme Court’s decision to quash the High Court’s order to re-collate the parliamentary results in the four constituencies means that every action the Electoral Commission undertook under the lower court’s order has been set aside.

The decision restores the status quo ante prevailing at the time the Commission undertook the re-collation exercise.

First, per the Supreme Court’s ruling, the results and winners declared by the Commission in the Okaikwei Central, Ablekuma North, Tema Central, and Techiman South constituencies are invalid. This means that the previously declared results stand until otherwise directed by the High Court.

Second, the Commission’s gazetting of the winners in the four constituencies is equally void since it followed the High Court’s mandamus order.

Third, the Commission’s collation of results in the Nsawam-Adoagyiri and Ahafo Ano North constituencies is valid pending the determination of the substantive matter before the High Court.

Fourth, the gazetting of the winners in the Nsawam-Adoagyiri and Ahafo Ano North constituencies is valid until set aside by the High Court.

Fifth, until the High Court hearing the substantive matter invalidates the earlier declaration of the NDC parliamentary candidates as winners in the four constituencies, the Commission will eventually gazette them to take their seats in Ghana’s 9th Parliament to be ushered in on Jan. 7, 2025.

Sixth, a new High Court judge would have to hear the mandamus application to protect the integrity of the outcome of the matter.

Conclusion

With barely three days to the High Court’s hearing of the mandamus application as directed by the Supreme Court on Dec. 31, 2024, much is at stake for the two dominant political parties—the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC).

The High Court may either compel the Electoral Commission to re-collate the results in the Okaikwei Central, Ablekuma North, Tema Central, and Techiman South constituencies or uphold the results already declared.

In the case of the Nsawam-Adoagyiri and Ahafo Ano North constituencies, the Court may confirm the re-collated results or direct a re-collation.
Caroline AnipahJanuary 14, 2021
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Ghana Survives a Fractious Election But Will the Centre Hold for West Africa’s Model Democracy?

Ghana’s fourth Republic plods on, jerkily, but the nation that first ushered Africa into independence and democratic rule came to some recent reckoning as the world’s attention was fixed on the country ahead of its 2020 general elections. The challenge, going into the elections, was a simple one: Will this beacon of hope in the sub-region be able to consolidate its democratic gains and continue to inspire a continent characterised by political instability?

Not only has it done that, it has left for generations to come many historical moments – and events – hopefully, to learn from and to further strengthen its democracy.

A Historical Election

The December 2020 general election was historic on many fronts: it was the first to have been conducted in the country during a pandemic – Covid-19; the first to feature a sitting president, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, and a former president, John Dramani Mahama, from the two major political parties – the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP); and the first since 1993 to feature a female running mate from one of the major political parties..

Legitimising disenfranchisement

Significantly, for the first time in its fourth republic history, a group of people were disenfranchised. Electorates in the yet-to-be created Guan District Assembly which constituted by the Santrokofi, Akpafu and Lolobi (SALL) areas in the Oti Region, were, in accordance with an Electoral Commission (EC) press statement, deprived of their right to elect a Member of Parliament. They were served notice of this on the eve of elections – December 6.

“As a result of the creation of the Guan District Local Government (Guan District Assembly) Instrument, 2020 and pending the creation of the Guan Constituency, eligible voters in the Guan District will vote only in the Presidential Election but not in the Parliamentary Election in the Buem Constituency,” the EC statement read.

As it turns out, the ‘firsts’ will not only be limited to the pre-elections period but events after as well. The Chairperson of the Electoral Commission (EC), Jean Mensa, announced the elections’ verdict on December 9, 2020 (after being unable to deliver on the promise of declaring results within 24 hours) without results from one constituency – Techiman South. According to Mensa, results from the constituency would have no effect on what had been received and collated from 274 of the 275 constituencies.

Clumsy Counts from the Election Management Body

The results as declared by Mensa were subsequently amended by the commission at least three times – another first.

The presidential election outcome as declared and amended by the commission has since been challenged by the NDC candidate, John Dramani Mahama, with a petition filed at Ghana’s Supreme Court. This is not the first time a candidate is seeking redress in the apex court after an election. Precedence was set after the 2012 presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, prayed the Supreme Court to overturn election results which declared NDC’s candidate, John Dramani Mahama, winner. The petition was dismissed after eight months of legal tussle.

A Hung Parliament

Again for the first time, none of the political parties which contested the elections won a clear majority in Parliament. According to the EC, out of 275 constituencies, the NPP and the NDC won 137 seats apiece and an independent candidate, Andrew Amoako Asiamah, a seat. Asiamah, was the Member of Parliament for Fomena Constituency in the Ashanti Region on the NPP ticket. He was expelled from the party a few weeks after the elections over disagreements with constituency executives and his seat subsequently declared vacant by the Speaker of the Seventh Parliament, Prof Mike Aaron Ocquaye.

Asiamah has indicated his decision to align with the NPP side of Parliament.

The number – 137 apiece for the two sides – remains the same in spite of judicial contestations by both the NDC and the NPP to overturn parliamentary results in some constituencies. As such, a hung Parliament is what is currently in place.

Soldiers in parliament

The drama around the election extended to Parliament House on January 6 and 7 when Members of Parliament convened to elect a Speaker and subsequently to be sworn-in as elected representatives. The ceremony which was expected to last two hours from midnight of January 6, ended after 10 a.m January 7.

The contest between former speaker of Parliament, Prof Mike Aaron Ocquaye, nominated by the NPP caucus, and former first deputy speaker of the seventh Parliament, Alban Sumana Bagbin, nominated by the NDC side, supposed to be by secret balloting as stipulated by the constitution 104 (4) of the 1992 Constitution and Standing Order 9 (1) of Parliament, was interrupted about three times after the NDC caucus insisted MP-elects from the NPP side must not display their ballot papers to their party leadership. Altercations, including the exchange of abusive words, kicking of ballot booths ensued during proceedings.

A major highlight of the night was what many call the ‘invasion’ by armed military officials into the house to ostensibly settle the confusion. Their presence attracted commotion from the NDC side who sang the national anthem and revolution songs in their bid to stand up to what they term ‘oppressor’s rule’.

However, the crowning moment of what many Ghanaians have called disgraceful conduct from the ‘honourables’ or Parliament, was the snatching of yet- to be counted ballot papers by an MP-elect, Carlos Ahenkorah. He was subjected to beatings – meant to force out the papers he had attempted to chew, according to a member of the NDC, – after his plot was foiled.

The Moment Carlos Ahenkorah Snatched Ballot Papers In Parliament #UTVGhana #UTVNews #DespiteMedia pic.twitter.com/kXVyk42lu9
— UTV Ghana (@utvghana) January 7, 2021

Ahenkorah was a Deputy Minister for Trade and Industry but was forced to resign in 2020 when he visited election registration centres in spite of testing positive for Covid-19. His apology explaining his action, has not gone down well with many.

The riotous and acrimonious proceedings notwithstanding, Alban Suman Bagbin was elected Speaker of the eighth Parliament.

What Do these events Mean for Ghana’s Democracy?

Ghana’s institutions and democracy are not perfect. Indeed, there is no perfect democracy or anywhere in the world – As events of last week from the United States of America where supporters of President Donald Trump stormed Capitol Hill have shown, no democracy or country is immune from unexpected tussles. Therefore, although some of the events preceding the 2020 elections and afterwards should be a concern for Ghanaians, they present us with opportunities to fix our institutions and work on our democracy. But are our leaders willing to deny themselves of the benefit of the status quo for an equal and democratic society where institutions work for the common good?

The outcome of the elections, especially massive loss of the governing party, NPP, from holding a majority in Parliament with a total of 167 seats in 2016 to the current 137, in spite of the much-touted free Senior High School, is an indication of the growing sophistication of electorates. It is a wake-up call for politicians that the Ghanaian electorate is discerning and cannot be bought off with occasional ‘goodies’, propaganda and populist policies. With this massive blow, politicians will be disabused of the perception that electorates will accept whatever is thrown at them.

With the nature of the current Parliament, the success or otherwise of governance and government business will hinge on consensus building and collaboration between the two caucuses and government. Considering the history of ‘the minority can have its say but the majority will have its way’ in previous Parliaments, how will the current Legislature work? Can the Executive, which has been accused of disregarding input from civil society, citizens and opposition political parties, work effectively with the hung parliament presided over by a speaker from the opposition party?

Again, for a Legislature which has since the inception of the fourth republic been considered a ‘rubber stamp’ doing the bidding of the Executive, often because the President has always come from the majority in Parliament, a hung parliament with a speaker from the opposition is expected to be much more critical of the government and ensure against executive excesses.

Ghanaians, and indeed the world, wait to see how this will pan out.
Yahaya MaashuduDecember 31, 2020
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Fact-check: True, Federation of Muslim Councils has called for open collation of election results before January 7

Claim: A story published by nationalistgh.com and shared on several WhatsApp platforms claims the Federation of Muslim Councils has called on the Electoral Commission to resolve election disputes through open collation of results.

From the facts provided by the Federation of Muslim Council and the confirmation of the press statement, it’s true that the FMC called for resolution of election disputes through open collation of the results in the Techiman South Constituency.

Full text

A screenshot being shared on social media suggests that the Federation of Muslim Councils (FMC) has called for open collation of results of the 2020 elections before January 7, 2021.

The screenshot which comes with the picture of the National Chief Imam, Sheikh Osman Nuhu Sharubutu, has the headline: “Resolve Election disputes through open collation before 7 January – Muslim Councils to Jean Mensah.”

However, a screenshot of the same story is being shared with the word “Fake” embossed across it to counter the story.

Verification

To verify the claim, Dubawa sourced the original story published on nationalistgh.com and republished on ghanapoliticsonline.com.

The writer did the story from a press statement purported to be from FMC.

Dubawa contacted the news portal, nationalistgh.com, which first published the story, and obtained a copy of the press statement to ascertain the veracity or otherwise of the story.

Paragraph four of the statement partly reads: “The FMC therefore calls on the Electoral Commission to accede to the request for an open collation of the results in the Techiman South constituency polls, which has not been done to date in contravention of the electoral rules.”

The statement was signed by the General Secretary of the FMC, Alhaji Muhammad Amir Kpakpo Addo.

Dubawa contacted Alhaji Kpakpo Addo on the phone to verify the authenticity of the press statement.

He confirmed the statement and sent a copy to Dubawa for confirmation.

“That is so. The person took that angle from our release. We asked the EC to heed the calls by the NDC to openly and publicly collate the Techiman South results,” he stated.

Below is the press statement released by the federation:

27 December, 2020

PRESS RELEASE:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

FEDERATION OF MUSLM COUNCILS SUPPORTS CALLS ON EC TO WORK TOWARDS RESOLVING ELECTORAL ISSUES AMICABLY

ACCRA. – The umbrella body of Muslim organisations in Ghana, the Federation of Muslim Councils (FMC) joins other peace loving voices in Ghana, including the National Peace Council, OccupyGhana, Civil Society Organisations in Election Programming and other concerned eminent Ghanaians, particularly the only concerned voice within the Eminent Advisory Committee of EC , Nana Ato Dadzie, c.v, in demanding for a resolution of all lingering electoral disputes in accordance with established laws of the country , before January 7, 2021.

The diverse Muslim communities represented by FMC call on all aggrieved parties to reject violence and seek lawful and peaceful means of resolving all election-related issues. In particular, the FMC is still urging all Muslims, especially the youth, to continue to comport themselves and refrain from any form violence in relation to the just-ended elections.

The FMC, however, joins human rights lovers in strongly condemning the loss of innocent lives through irresponsible acts of the police and the military during the elections, including the outrageous use of brute force by the police on unarmed peaceful Ghanaians exercising their rights to protest. Government is hereby called upon to investigate all shooting incidents, the loss of lives in connection with the elections and punish the perpetrators. The FMC is very worried that a similar call by the National Peace Council for investigation into shooting incidents during the voter’s registration was rebuffed by government, not to talk of government’s silence on recommendations by the Justice Emile Short Commission on the Ayawaso West Wuogon bye-election excesses by a special unit of the Ghana Police Service.

The FMC urges the Electoral Commission to demonstrate fairness in handling issues of all aggrieved parties in the just-ended elections. The FMC therefore calls on the Electoral Commission to accede to the request for an open collation of results in the Techiman South constituency polls, which has not been done to date in contravention of the electoral rules. By extension, the FMC endorses the numerous calls for an independent audit of results of the polls to put to rest any lingering doubts of wrong computation of the results by the Electoral Commission.

The FMC is comforted by the fact, as pointed out by OccupyGhana in its statement of 23rd December 2020 that, to the extent that the EC is not a law unto itself, “…if the EC is not ready to listen, or wrongly dismisses the challenge, or cannot effect a change because the results have already been gazetted, the Constitution provides the ultimate routes to challenge those results through either the High Court (for parliamentary election) or the Supreme Court (for presidential election.)”

In conclusion, it is important to let justice be done. It is equally important to note that, in as much as Ghana deserves peace and needs peace now, sight should not be lost of the fact that injustice could endanger peace!

Al-Hajj Muhammad Amir Kpakpo Addo

Secretary-General

Federation of Muslim Councils, Ghana

Cellular: +233 277 403357

Email: fmcghana@yahoo.com

Conclusion

Based on the facts provided by the Federation of Muslim Council and the confirmation of the press statement, it’s true that the FMC called for resolution of election disputes through open collation of the results in the Techiman South Constituency.

The reporter produced this fact-check under the auspices of the Dubawa 2020 Fellowship in partnership with The Finder Newspaper to facilitate the ethos of “truth” in journalism and to enhance media literacy in the country.
Jonas NyaborDecember 17, 2020
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Election 2020: Who are the three ‘extra’ Essikado-Ketan parliamentary candidates?

Following our previous fact-check that confirmed that the Electoral Commission (EC) published results for six instead of the three candidates who contested the Parliamentary seat in the Essikado-Ketan Constituency, we received several feedbacks and questions.

One of the questions sought to know who the three extra candidates who were apparently added mistakenly to the EC’s Essikado-Ketan parliamentary election results were.

As a reminder, the names were:

Candidate Political party Vote obtained Percentage
Samuel Abokyi GFP 260 0.27
Asamoah Agyeman PNC 26 0.06
Sadick Sarfo NDP 27 0.06

Series of online searches we ran revealed that all three persons were actual candidates in other constituencies.

We found that Asamoah Agyeman and Sadick Sarfo of the People’s National Convention (PNC) and the National Democratic Party (NDC) respectively were both parliamentary candidates in the Asunafo South constituency of the Ahafo region.

The notice of poll in that constituency also confirmed their identities and corresponding political parties.

Notice of poll from Asunafo South constituency

No record was found of a Samuel Abokyi contesting on the ticket of the Ghana Freedom Party. Our further search, however, showed that Samuel Abokyi contested on the ticket of the Great Consolidated Popular Party (GCPP) as a parliamentary candidate in the Prestea Huni Valley constituency of the Western region.

Results from the two constituencies all three candidates contested in confirmed the number of votes the EC attributed to them on the Essikado-Ketan parliamentary result document.

$C:\Users\Jonas\Desktop\Prestea Huni valley.jpg$
Pink sheet from Prestea Huni Valley

Conclusion:

The three extra names added by the Electoral Commission to the Essikado-Ketan parliamentary election results document are actual candidates who contested the elections in different constituencies.
Jonas NyaborDecember 11, 2020
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True! EC published Essikado-Ketan parliamentary results featuring 6 candidates instead of 3

Pro-NDC groups claim only three persons contested for the Essikado-Ketan parliamentary elections but the Electoral Commission announced results for six candidates.

Although three persons contested in the elections, the EC published an artwork on its website with the result of six candidates. It, however, deleted it later and uploaded a different one.

Full text

The Electoral Commission (EC) has come under criticism from a section of the public following official declaration of the 2020 election results.

Most of the criticisms have been about how the Commission has not been able to effectively undertake its clerical functions for the purposes of updating the public.

There is record of the Commission revising earlier election result announcements.

The most recent one has been about the release of an artwork announcing the result of the Essikado-Ketan parliamentary elections.

Many pro-opposition Facebook groups including NDC TV and some commentators are sharing images to claim that the Commission published results for six parliamentary candidates for the Essikado-Ketan seat when in fact, only three people contested for the seat.

Their claim is to make the case that the Commission’s data or declared results cannot be trusted.

$C:\Users\Jonas\Desktop\227bf0aa-825e-4900-8cdb-d68d067173b6.jpg$

Verification

A notice of poll, sourced from the Essikado-Ketan constituency in the Western Region, confirmed that the only three candidates contested in the elections.

The candidates were;

CANDIDATES POLITICAL PARTY
Joe Ghartey NPP
Dr. Grace Ayensu Danquah NDC
Frank Cobbinah GUM

$C:\Users\Jonas\Desktop\a5cd11bb-79c6-4a93-afee-a380e96c0f14.jpg$

Media reports such as one reported by Citi News also accounted for only three candidates in that election.

Further checks, using the serial number A0701 on the sample ballot paper shared by the claimants to make their case confirms that, the ballot paper shown is the actual ballot paper used on the day of voting in the Essikado-Ketan constituency.

Did the EC make any publication of six candidates?

Scanning through the Electoral Commission’s website, we found that it had uploaded several of the parliamentary results on Thursday, December 11, 2020.

The results included Essikado-Ketan. However, unlike the image being shared on social media by the claimants, the document featured the actual three candidates who contested for that seat.

Did the claimants ‘photoshop’ their copy of the results sheet?

With the possibility that the EC uploaded and later deleted the document being shared by the claimants, we conducted a search in the webpage’s source code and discovered that within the chain of other results uploaded on Thursday, one file had been removed after it was uploaded.

$C:\Users\Jonas\Desktop\Capture1.JPG$

That file is the one being shared by the claimants, confirming that indeed, the Electoral Commission uploaded that copy as parliamentary results for Essikado-Ketan but later deleted it.

Conclusion

The Electoral Commission indeed shared an Essikado-Ketan parliamentary results document with results for six supposed candidates although only three people contested in that election. It, however, deleted it later and replaced it.
Maxine DansoDecember 11, 2020
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Mahama affirms NDC’s rejection of 2020 presidential election results

The former president and presidential candidate of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), John Dramani Mahama, has affirmed his party’s rejection of the 2020 presidential results and has insisted that his party won both the presidential and parliamentary elections.

“It was clear as per the results of the votes that were legally cast, that the National Democratic Congress won the presidential and parliamentary elections,” Mahama said.

Speaking at the NDC’s press conference on 10 December 2020, held after the declaration of the election results by the Electoral Commission, Mahama explained why he rejects the 2020 presidential results.

He emphasised his firm belief in the democratic willpower of electorates in choosing a leader and reminded his audience of his respect for this choice of electorates when he lost elections as an incumbent candidate in 2016 and conceded peacefully.

For this reason, having noted to have amassed the most votes from the electorates both on the presidential level and parliamentary level, Mahama reiterated his party’s position of rejecting the ‘fictionalised results of the flawed elections’.

“I am a staunch believer in the experiment of democracy – a system of governance that allows the ultimate decision making power to rest in the hands of you, the good people of Ghana. We the people who with an eye towards the future we would like for our dear country elect representatives to go forward and realize that vision. Government serves at the choice, direction and pleasure of the people of this great nation. And I have had the power and honour to serve my country in all levels of government. When in 2016, at the end of my first full term as president, I ran for re-election as an incumbent candidate, I respected the will of the people – I conceded, I stepped aside and I set in motion a peaceful transfer of power because I understood that it was the will of the people. And if we are to progress as a nation, if we are to live up to the inheritance of our history -one for which people have paid the ultimate price -the sacred verdict of the people must be respected, it must be protected. It has been my pledge throughout my time of service as a representative to the good people of Ghana to do exactly that, and that is why I stand before you tonight, unwilling to accept the fictionalised results of a flawed election,’’ Mahama said.

Photo source: John Mahama (Facebook page)

Mahama further expressed his pride in NDC’s parliamentary candidates for winning 63 more seats in parliament and making up for the 2016 election losses. He added that the candidates have indeed demonstrated the strength of the party and the strength of the mandate given to the NDC by Ghanaians to lead the country.

Jonas NyaborDecember 11, 2020

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ANALYSIS: Ghana’s presidential election results declared with significant errors

Following what some international and local election observers say was a successful holding of Ghana’s 2020 presidential and parliamentary elections, the Electoral Commission declared the official presidential results on Wednesday, December 9, 2020, at its headquarters in Accra. The verdict was declared without results from the Techiman South Constituency which Mensa explained was under contention.

Chairperson of the Commission, Jean Mensa, declared Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, the incumbent president, as the winner of the keenly contested polls.

His closest contender and former president, John Mahama, who contested on the ticket of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) came second.

“At the end of a transparent, fair, orderly and timely and peaceful presidential election, the total number of valid votes cast was 13,434,574, representing 79 per cent of the total registered voters. Permit me to present the result in the order of appearance on the 2020 presidential ballot.”

“At the end of the polls, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo of the New Patriotic Party obtained 6,730,413 votes, being 51.595% of the total valid votes cast. John Dramani Mahama of the National Democratic Congress obtained 6,214,889 votes being 47.366 of the total valid votes cast,” she said.

A document from the EC shared with journalists who covered the declaration however stated different figures for votes won by each candidate.

C:\Users\Jonas\Desktop\dc537a76-ab4c-48ec-ab68-bf7a860e491e.jpg

Data twist?

Following that declaration, however, we found some discrepancies that have been highlighted below:

1. Madam Jean Mensa’s spoken declaration stated 13,434,574 as the total valid votes cast while the one captured on the EC’s official document was 13,121,111.

2. Madam Jean Mensa declared that Akufo-Addo got 51.595% of the total valid votes cast while the official EC document captured 51.295%.

3. The EC’s official artwork shared on its Facebook page to announce Akufo-Addo’s victory also stated 51.295%.

$C:\Users\Jonas\Desktop\EC artwork.jpg$

This caught our attention because the 0.30% difference carries a significant number of votes, over 39,400.

What percentage exactly did Akufo-Addo get?

Calculating for the actual percentage won involves dividing the total number of valid votes cast in favour of Akufo-Addo by the total number of valid votes cast and multiplying the result by 100.

Votes in favour of Akufo-Addo/ Total number of valid votes × 100%

With two different “official” number of valid votes cast in the 2020 polls; these are the percentage votes Akufo-Addo would have won.

Candidate	Using 13,434,574	Using 13,121,111
Nana Akufo-Addo	50.0977%	51.2945%
John Mahama	46.260%	47.3655%

More Data Twist?

The Electoral Commission on Thursday, December 10, 2020, released a press statement in which it revised the total number of valid votes cast from the 13,434,574 “inadvertently used” to 13,119,460.

“The Chairperson of the Electoral Commission inadvertently used 13,433,573 as the valid votes cast. The total valid votes cast is 13,119,460,” the statement said.

C:\Users\Jonas\Desktop\Eo3IYpiXUAILVyU.jpg — Source: Electoral Commission of Ghana

The statement also came with reviewed actual figures for the number of votes obtained by each candidate.

Below are the major differences we’ve seen.

Table 1: Results Declared By EC Chairperson on December 9 VS Results on EC Document Given to Journalists After Result Declaration

Candidate	Results declared by Jean Mensa(Valid votes- 13,434,574)	Percentage (%)	Results captured on EC’s document(Valid votes 13,121,111)	Percentage (%)
Nana Akufo-Addo	6,730,413	50.0977	6,730,413	51.2945
John Mahama	6,214,889	46.2604	6,214,889	47.3656
Christian Kwabena Andrews	105,565	0.78577	105,565	0.80454
Ivor Greenstreet	12,215	0.09092	12,215	0.09309
Akua Donkor	5,575	0.0415	5,575	0.04249
Henry Herbert Lartey	3,574	0.0266	3,574	0.02724
Hassan Ayariga	7,140	0.05315	7,140	0.05442
Kofi Akpaloo	7,690	0.05724	7,690	0.05861
David Apasera	10,887	0.08104	10,887	0.08297
Brigitte Dzogbenuku	6848	0.05097	6848	0.05219
Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings	6,612	0.04922	6,612	0.05039
Asiedu Walker	9,703	0.07222	9,703	0.07395
	13,434,574		13,121,111

Table 2: Difference Between Reviewed Results Provided In EC Press Release on Thursday, December 10, 2020, And EC Document To Journalists After Wednesday’s Declaration

Candidate	Reviewed results (Valid votes 13,119,460)	Percentage (%)	Difference between earlier results and reviewed results (Votes)
Nana Akufo-Addo	6,730,587	51.30232	+174
John Mahama	6,213,182	47.35852	-1707
Christian Kwabena Andrews	105,548	0.804515	-17
Ivor Greenstreet	12,200	0.092992	-15
Akua Donkor	5,574	0.042487	-1
Henry Herbert Lartey	3,564	0.027166	-10
Hassan Ayariga	7,138	0.054408	-2
Kofi Akpaloo	7,683	0.058562	-7
David Apasera	10,882	0.082945	-5
Brigitte Dzogbenuku	6,849	0.052205	+1
Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings	6,549	0.049918	-63
Asiedu Walker	9,704	0.073966	+1
	13,119,460		-1651

Based on the above information, we find that the EC provided three different pieces of information on Ghana’s presidential election results.

The last official information from the EC on the results of Ghana’s presidential elections is Thursday’s press release which said President Akufo-Addo obtained 6,730,587, constituting 51.30232 per cent and John Mahama, 6,213,182, representing 47.35852 per cent of 13,119,460 valid votes cast.

The results declared by Madam Jean Mensa has already been widely reported in both local and international media including France24, DW and Aljazeera although the EC has announced a revision.

Besides the fact that widely publicized erroneous data would mislead the public, it is concerning that such errors will riddle a major election result declaration such as Ghana’s.

The Vice President of IMANI Africa, Bright Simons believes that the situation is worrying.

He says most of the challenges observed with the country’s elections have been as a result of poor execution of documentation and administrative tasks on the part of the independent election management body.

“The problem is quite simply that over the past 10 years the country has spent roughly $200 million in biometric and allied technologies, systems and their maintenance. All this shiny gear does only one thing: stop impersonation. But this is hardly the biggest problem in our elections. As we saw in the 2013 petition and are seeing in the current slew of controversy, the real mess in the elections has always been clerical,” he said.

He adds that based on how the EC conducts its administrative work, it is not surprising to him that the EC’s official results have changed a few times.

“Apart from the seminal decision to give copies of pink sheets and other tally sheets to parties as a matter of right, we have done little to improve on that whole administrative and logistical process since 1992. It is thus not surprising that tallies for the same polling stations have differed across the political parties, the EC, the media and the observer missions… There certainly are concerns when even the Electoral Commission itself start flip-flopping on basic numbers. Hopefully, we shall not go to sleep on these issues like we did after the last petition.”

Roselena AhiableDecember 10, 2020
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Election 2020: NDC Rejects Presidential Results

The National Democratic Congress (NDC) has rejected the results of the 2020 presidential polls, describing the elections as flawed.

Haruna Iddrisu, a leading member of the NDC and Member of Parliament for Tamale South constituency, in a press conference held shortly after the declaration of the presidential results by the Electoral Commission, said the party has overwhelming evidence that the presidential election was won by John Dramani Mahama.

Image source: Joynews(YouTube)

“We have come to only one irresistible conclusion, that it is a fraud, discredited election and therefore we reject the presidential result without any reservation,” Iddrisu said.

He added the party obtained Parliamentary majority and will therefore resist a contrary result.

“We want to say that it’s a flawed election and therefore we reject it without any reservation, we reject the presidential elections as announced by the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission [Jean Mensa]. And we also want to serve notice that the blatant effort to deny us a parliamentary majority will be fiercely resisted. We know that the good people of Ghana gave us a mandate and that mandate includes a parliamentary majority… Overwhelming evidence available to us makes it difficult for us to accept these results,” he said.
Maxine DansoDecember 4, 2020
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Disregard any declaration of results purporting to be collated from the Special Voting

Special Voting results show NPP is in the lead – social media users claim

There have been no counting and declaration of results from the Special Voters by the Electoral Commission. It will be done after the polls on December 7

Full text

The Constitutional Instrument 94 allows for a Special Voting day for voters who, as a result of election duties, will not be able to be present at the polling station where the voter is registered on the day of the election.

The Special Voters list this year includes security agencies, the media and officers of the Electoral Commission who will be on assignment on election day.

This exercise happened on Monday, December 1, 2020, and few hours after voting, some Facebook users and Twitter users posted what is purported to be the results from the Special Voting in favour of their preferred political party.

Verification

Are Special Votes counted and results declared before election day?

The 2020 Constitutional Instrument 127 specifies that the ballot boxes are sealed after the special voting with the seals of the Electoral Commission and opened at the time of the counting of the votes from the day of the election.

Regulation 23 of 2020 CI 127 which details the process of the special voters’ list also indicates who should be in charge of the ballot papers after the close of the special voting and the day for it to be counted.

It states:

(11) The returning officer shall, at the end of the special voting,

(a) ensure that the ballot boxes are kept in safe custody after the poll has closed;

(b) ensure that the ballot boxes are sealed with the seals of the Commission and any candidates who wish to add their seal; and

(c) arrange for the ballot boxes to be opened at the time of the counting of the votes cast on the polling day and the ballot papers shall be counted in the same manner as those contained in the ballot boxes used on the polling day.

Dubawa also enquired from the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) about the counting of ballot boxes from Special Voting exercise, and it was explained that the ballot boxes from the Special Voting have been locked and kept away until after elections on December 7, which will be counted together with the ballot boxes from election day.

The Director of Communications and Corporate Affairs at NCCE, Mrs Joyce Afutu stated that,

“No vote has been counted yet, everything will be counted and results declared after election day on Monday.’’

Who declares the election results?

Only the Chairman of the Electoral Commission, according to the 2020 C.I. 127, is responsible for declaring the election results after the assembling and collating of results from the regions and duly following the necessary protocols, after election day on 7 December,

Till then, all other declaration of results are to be disregarded.

Conclusion

The claim indicating that NPP records 63% from the special voters is false. The C.I 127 does not permit the counting of ballot boxes from Special Voters till after the day of the election on 7 December. Additionally, only the Chairman of the EC is mandated to declare the results after all ballot boxes have been counted after election day.
Roselena AhiableDecember 2, 2020
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How are Members of Parliament elected In Ghana?
Ghana’s Members of Parliament (MPs) are elected every four years – on December 7, the same day as the Presidential elections – to represent citizens living in a designated area called a constituency. The division of regions of the country into constituencies is overseen by the Electoral Commission and according to the laws of the land, cannot be done within less than seven years.

Since the inception of the fourth republic in 1993, the number of constituencies in the country have been reviewed twice.

Year 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020
Number of Constituencies 200 199 200 230 230 275 275 275

Source: Electoral Commission; Africa Elections Database (In the 1996 election, 200 seats were contested for, however; elections for one seat in the Ashanti region was postponed and a by-election was held in 1997 to determine the winner of the seat).

MPs will be elected from 275 constituencies in this year’s general elections as indicated in the 2019 list of districts and constituencies.

To qualify to partake in these elections, an individual must go through the following processes:

Step 1: Parliamentary Primary Elections

For an individual to qualify to run for a parliamentary seat, he or she must, among others (pg 159 to 161),
- be a citizen of Ghana, has attained the age of twenty-one years, and is a registered voter;
- be a resident in the constituency for which he stands as a candidate for election to Parliament, or has resided there, for a total period of not less than five years out of the ten years immediately preceding the election for which he stands, or he hails from that constituency;
- have paid all his taxes or made arrangements satisfactory to the appropriate authority, for the payment of his taxes;
- Not owe allegiance to another country other than Ghana;
- Not have been declared bankrupt;
- Must be of sound mind or not have been detained as a criminal lunatic under any law in force in Ghana;
After meeting the above requirements, the individual can nominate him/herself or be nominated by others by picking nomination forms made available by the Electoral Commission.

Nomination forms are then completed and submitted to the returning officer.

For the nomination forms to be considered valid, the nomination form must satisfy the following requirements;

“(a) witnessed by the signature, or mark of two electors as proposer and seconder, and supported by eighteen other electors, as assenting to the nomination; and

(b) endorsed with the candidate’s consent, to nomination”.

A candidate cannot represent more than one constituency nor can a person nominate more than one candidate for election.

Primaries, where parliamentary candidate aspirants are elected, are then conducted by all political parties who have multiple individuals interested in representing the party in the major elections. This process is done to ensure internal party democracy, openness, and transparency(Daddieh & Bob-Milliar, 2012).

At the time of their nomination, parliamentary candidates are expected to make statutory declarations deposits as determined by the Electoral Commission (EC).

In the case of a nominee going unopposed by the time of expiry of the time allowed for delivering nomination, and a day before the election, the candidate will be declared elected.

Step 2: Election Day

MPs are elected on the same day presidents are elected. They have the same term or length of stay as an elected president has, four years, after which they have the option to repeat the process again in order to be re-elected or otherwise.

After votes are cast on election day in the various constituencies, results are tabulated and declared by the presiding officers at each polling station and then communicated to the returning officer in every district as appointed by the Electoral Commission. See page 149 of C.I. 15.

A candidate is declared elected when he/she has the most valid votes cast in their name.

Should there be an equality vote (a tie) between candidates, a second election will be held within 30 days of receipt of an endorsed writ by the EC as indicated on page 151 clause 40(2) of the C. I. 15. The winner will be declared based on the number of valid votes cast for each individual.

Unlike the presidential elections where the C.I.15 (page 152) clearly states that a candidate who receives more than 50% of the votes is declared winner, the parliamentary elections are different. The candidate to whom the most votes have been given wins the parliamentary elections.

For more information, see chapter 55 of The Public Elections Regulation, 1996 (C.I.15) which provides a detailed description of requirements, directives and regulations for general elections in Ghana.