STORY BY MICHAEL OFOSU-AFRIYIE, KUMASI.
HIGH COURT PLACES INJUNCTION ON MANHYIA-NORTH POLLS.
Collins Owusu Amankwah and Kwasi Konadu, interested parties in the Manhyia North constituency matters of the New Patriotic Party (NPP)
21 aspiring polling station executives in the Manhyia North branch of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) have filed and secured an injunction from a Kumasi High Court on the upcoming electoral area coordinators election in the constituency.
The plaintiffs want the NPP party to resolve all the issues surrounding their statuses and those who would finally make it to the constituency album as polling station executives before any election is commenced in the constituency.
The injunction which was secured by the aggrieved persons on Thursday therefore bars the NPP from going ahead with any election in the constituency for the next ten days.
Confirming the issue to this reporter brandishing a copy of the injunction, one of the plaintiffs said all persons who matter from national, regional and constituency levels have been duly served with the injunction.
DETAILS:
The order from the court restrains the defendants herein referred to as the New Patriotic Party and the Manhyia-North Election Committee from either acting individually or together or through their agents or assigns in any activity related to elections in the constituency.
The order therefore affects the upcoming electoral area coordinators election in the NPP stronghold.
The order also held that until valid elections in the constituency for polling station aspirants are done no other elections under the NPP guidelines and supervision should be conducted in the area.
Lawyer Shadrack Yeboah Obeng, acting as solicitor for the plaintiffs, secured the injunction which had 21 persons signing.
BACKGROUND:
The Manhyia North constituency is a stronghold of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) having been carved out from the former Manhyia Constituency before the 2012 general elections in the country.
Collins Owusu Amankwah, a known party youth organizer, security and media person won the seat in the 2012 election as first MP and also held it sway for the second time in the 2016 election with sweeping margins which had all the interested political parties contesting including the NDC.
In the 2019 internal primaries of the NPP, Kwasi Konadu, a two time aspirant won the right to become the party’s candidate for the 2020 elections and succeeded in retaining the seat for the ruling party.
With these dynamics, the 2022 polling station executive election has thrown up interesting but worrying issues in the constituency.
The conduct of the polls started with the accusation that some members of the elections committee had taken bribes from some unknown persons.
And despite the denial of the Chairman, one Daniel Yaw Gerald, the allegation festered until a supposed election in the area was eventually described as a sham.
