The Tema high court, presided over by Justice John Eugene Nyante Nyadu, has struck out an application by Sam George, the MP for Ningo-Prampram, seeking to restrain the Electoral Commission from holding a workshop in his constituency.
The applicant and his lawyers were absent when the case was called in court today. However, the lawyer for the Electoral Commission was present.
Counsel for the EC argued that the applicants had failed to comply with Order 55, Rule 6 (2 and 3) of the High Court Civil Procedure Rules 2004 (CI 47) by not filing a statement of case. Compliance with the rule would have allowed the EC to respond.
The applicants filed their case on 24 April. As they had not filed their statement of case as of today (28 May), counsel for the EC prayed the court to strike out the case.
The injunction
Justice Nyadu concurred with the EC and ruled against the application. He also awarded costs of GHC6,000 against the applicant.
The Tema high court’s decision today is a marked departure from its ruling of 23 April in favour of Sam George. On that day, the same judge, Justice Nyadu, issued an injunction against the Electoral Commission, preventing it from holding a workshop for senior management and staff to plan for the general election in December.
Sam George, acting through his lawyers Godwin Dzah and Justice Srem Sai, had launched an action seeking to prevent the EC from holding a meeting with its staff at the Escape Hotel in Prampram.
They argued that, should the EC proceed to hold the meeting outside the Commission’s premises, they would be breaching Executive Instrument (EI) 64 of 2020, which imposed restrictions on public gatherings across Ghana. Lawyers said the meeting was also likely to increase the spread of the novel coronavirus.
Damages would be inadequate
At that hearing, the court ruled that, on balance, if the meeting was not halted and ended up “being a conduit for further spread of the COVID-19 virus and the applicant is infected, the resultant outcome may not be adequately compensated for by the award of damages”.
The judge ordered that the Electoral Commission “and all persons claiming through the respondent are to refrain from holding the workshop or conference scheduled to take place at the Escape Hotel Prampram from the 24th of April, 2020.
“This order is effective from the 24th of April 2020 to the 27th of April 2020.”
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