{"id":115651,"date":"2026-02-16T17:24:13","date_gmt":"2026-02-16T17:24:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=115651"},"modified":"2026-02-16T17:24:13","modified_gmt":"2026-02-16T17:24:13","slug":"democracy-hub-files-court-injunction-to-stop-ayawaso-east-by-election-over-vote-buying-in-ndc-primary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=115651","title":{"rendered":"Democracy Hub files court injunction to stop Ayawaso East by-election over vote-buying in NDC primary"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Pressure group Democracy Hub has filed a lawsuit at the High Court in Accra seeking to halt the planned Ayawaso East parliamentary by-election, citing alleged vote-buying and inducement in the National Democratic Congress (NDC) primary that produced the party\u2019s candidate.<\/p>\n

The suit, filed on behalf of the group by lawyer Oliver Barker-Vormawor on Monday, February 16, named the National Democratic Congress (NDC), the Electoral Commission (EC), and the Attorney-General\u2019s Department as defendants.<\/p>\n

The plaintiff is seeking, among other reliefs, an interlocutory injunction to restrain the EC from proceeding with the by-election on March 3 until the court determines the constitutionality of the NDC\u2019s parliamentary primary process.<\/p>\n

Allegations of vote-buying and unconstitutional process<\/strong><\/p>\n

In the statement of claim, the plaintiff argues that the NDC\u2019s Ayawaso East primary was \u201ccharacterised by widespread vote buying, inducement and monetisation,\u201d which undermined democratic principles guaranteed under Ghana\u2019s 1992 Constitution.<\/p>\n

According to the filing, the party\u2019s own fact-finding committee found that the integrity of the process had been \u201cfundamentally compromised\u201d, raising serious constitutional concerns.<\/p>\n

The suit contends that continuing to rely on the outcome of such a primary and presenting a candidate based on that process violates Article 55(5) of the Constitution, which requires political parties to conform to democratic principles in their internal organisation.<\/p>\n

Injunction sought to prevent irreversible constitutional consequences<\/strong><\/p>\n

The plaintiff is asking the court to suspend the by-election temporarily, arguing that allowing the vote to proceed would create irreversible legal and constitutional consequences.<\/p>\n

The filing states, \u201cThe impending conduct of the Ayawaso East Parliamentary by-election on the basis of a process that has been officially found to have been fundamentally compromised will set in motion a chain of constitutional events which cannot be reversed by a subsequent award of damages.\u201d<\/p>\n

It further argues that once a candidate is elected and sworn into Parliament, the court\u2019s ability to provide effective relief would be undermined, rendering any future ruling largely symbolic.<\/p>\n

Questions over EC\u2019s role<\/strong><\/p>\n

The plaintiff also questions whether the Electoral Commission can lawfully proceed with a by-election based on a nomination emerging from a process allegedly tainted by inducement.<\/p>\n

The suit maintains that while the EC does not supervise parliamentary primaries, its acceptance of a nomination carries constitutional implications.<\/p>\n

It argues that accepting and acting on a nomination founded on an allegedly flawed process raises \u201ca clear issue of illegality\u201d and constitutional non-compliance.<\/p>\n

Constitutional and public interest implications<\/strong><\/p>\n

The plaintiff insists the case goes beyond personal or political interests, touching on broader constitutional integrity and democratic governance.<\/p>\n

According to the filing, \u201cThe action concerns the enforcement of constitutional requirements governing democratic participation, the lawful exercise of public power, and the integrity of the electoral process.\u201d<\/p>\n

The plaintiff further argues that monetary compensation cannot remedy constitutional violations and that only a court-ordered injunction can preserve the integrity of the electoral process pending full determination of the case.<\/p>\n

Court to determine next steps<\/strong><\/p>\n

The application urges the High Court to preserve the status quo and prevent the by-election from proceeding until the constitutional issues raised are resolved.<\/p>\n

The High Court is expected to consider whether to grant the injunction and determine the legality of the nomination process before any by-election is conducted.<\/p>\n

The outcome of the case could have significant implications for political party primaries, electoral procedures, and constitutional accountability in Ghana\u2019s democratic system.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Pressure group Democracy Hub has filed a lawsuit at the High Court in Accra seeking to halt the planned Ayawaso East parliamentary by-election, citing alleged vote-buying and inducement in the National Democratic Congress (NDC) primary that produced the party\u2019s candidate.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_2277560469115098_106292521332774":"","twitter_aToxNzczMzI3Njk4OTg4ODUxMjAxOw==_1773327698988851200":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2950,5363,2578,262,1883,117,10,9,1887],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-115651","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ag","category-ayawaso-east","category-composition","category-ec","category-national","category-news","category-politics","category-popular","category-top-story"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115651","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=115651"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115651\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=115651"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=115651"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=115651"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}