KEY POINTS
- The Electoral Commission disqualified Joana Cudjoe after a court injunction.
- Petitioners raised concerns about the candidate’s voter ID.
- Cudjoe had been re-elected in fresh primaries before the legal challenge.
Due to a petition contesting her candidature, Joana Cudjoe was disqualified by the Electoral Commission from representing the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the Amenfi Central parliamentary election.
Joana Cudjoe barred from election race after court order
A pending court order of interlocutory injunction, which prevents the commission from formally recognising Cudjoe as the NDC’s parliamentary candidate in the next election, was mentioned in the petition that was submitted to the commission.
According to the court ruling, “the following parties are restrained until the matter is resolved: a) The 1. Defendant/Respondent from presenting herself as the duly elected NDC parliamentary candidate for the Amenfi Central constituency.”
In a letter, Samuel Tettey, the Deputy Chairman of Operations for the Electoral Commission, affirmed Cudjoe’s disqualification while citing the High Court’s Sekondi order, MyJoyOnline reported.
“An order for interlocutory injunction dated May 31, 2024, concerning a suit titled Gyedu Frimpong & 4 Others v. Joana Gyan Cudjoe, the National Democratic Congress & the Electoral Commission (Suit No. E12/36/24) has come to the attention of the commission,” Tettey wrote.
Voter identification authenticity raised as key issue in disqualification
The petitioners claim that Cudjoe’s disqualification was exacerbated by doubts over the validity of his voter identification.
Cudjoe’s candidacy was previously confirmed after she submitted her nomination paperwork and was re-elected by NDC representatives after this year’s primaries were cancelled. A lawsuit contesting the outcomes of the first primaries led to the annulment. Her previous election was declared invalid as a result of the litigation before the High Court, Sekondi, according to a statement signed by NDC General Secretary Fifi Kwetey.
Cudjoe, however, was re-elected by popular vote following the party’s holding of new primaries.
She was disqualified from the contest when the Electoral Commission confirmed in a letter dated October 16 that the court ruling “has neither stayed nor vacated, hence the commission is bound by it.”
