The Minority Caucus in Parliament has cast doubt on the reasoning behind a High Court ruling ordering a fresh parliamentary election in the Kpandai constituency, insisting that the original vote was transparent and that the declared result accurately reflected the will of the electorate.
The Tamale High Court, presided over by Justice Emmanuel Brew Plange, on Monday annulled the 2024 parliamentary results and directed the Electoral Commission to conduct a rerun within 30 days. The ruling followed a petition by National Democratic Congress (NDC) candidate Daniel Nsala Wakpal, who challenged the victory of Matthew Nyindam.
Wakpal told the court that the election was marred by irregularities, including inconsistencies from 41 out of 152 polling stations. He also argued that his absence from Tamale during the final collation and a number of clerical errors should call the declaration into question.
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But in a statement, the Minority Caucus rejected those grounds, saying the claims did not meet the threshold required to overturn a constituency-wide result. It said that even the main witness for the petitioner admitted that the total number of disputed votes amounted to about 500, far fewer than Nyindam’s winning margin of more than 3,700.
According to the statement signed by the Minority Leader, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, all party agents had signed the Pink Sheets at every polling station, affirming the accuracy of the tally before the collation centre was moved to Tamale. The group also accused NDC supporters of attempting to disrupt the process on election night, believing the Electoral Commission could not complete the declaration.
Despite those confrontations, officials proceeded with the count, ultimately announcing Nyindam as winner with 27,947 votes to Wakpal’s 24,213.
The Minority described the High Court’s decision to nullify the entire vote as “deeply concerning”, arguing that the evidence presented in court did not justify such a sweeping order. It said the issues raised, clerical errors and the candidate’s absence from the regional collation centre, did not undermine the overall integrity of the election.
“A notice of appeal and an application for a stay of execution have both been filed,” the statement stated, casting uncertainty over whether the Electoral Commission will be able to meet the 30-day deadline for a rerun.
The Minority Caucus said it remained committed to the rule of law but expressed confidence that the appeals process would restore what it called the “democratic outcome delivered by the voters of Kpandai”.
