The National Democratic Congress’ (NDC) parliamentary candidate for Hohoe Constituency in the Volta Region, Professor Margaret Kweku, and some four other interested parties yesterday filed an application at the Supreme Court seeking a review of certain orders that quashed a Ho High Court injunction.
The review of the court’s decision on January 5 also sought to order a restrain on Peter Amewu from holding himself out as a Member of Parliament-Elect for Hohoe Constituency.
A press release signed by Mr George Bright Anni Bansah, the Chairman for the NDC Hohoe Constituency, indicated that 18 grounds of the fundamental error of law had been set out in the application.
The release pointed out that the Supreme Court fundamentally erred when it referred to the right to vote as a provision falling within the Directive Principles of State Policy under the Constitution.
It further noted that the Supreme Court was faulted for claiming that there was a determination to be made by the High Court, Ho, as to whether the right to vote was a human right or not. It added that the right to vote or not had been settled by a long line of decisions of the Supreme Court which were binding on all courts, including the Supreme Court itself.
“The second ground of fundamental error for which reason a review is being sought is that as the High Court, Ho has jurisdiction to enforce human rights and was exercising that jurisdiction, the Supreme Court should not have invoked its supervisory power against the court,” the release added.
Mr Bansah, in the release, indicated that, among other things, the review application took issue with the court dismissing the objection raised against the participation of Justice Hoenyenugah on account of the real likelihood of bias and actual bias arising from the justice’s longstanding close relationship with Mr Amewu and the “unbreakable bond” between them.
He noted that according to the submissions in the statement of case, the justice should not have participated in the determination of the objection as that amounted to being a judge in his cause.
“The applicants also say that since it is clear from the processes filed in the High Court, Ho, that Mr Amewu’s declaration by an official of the Electoral Commission as MP-Elect was being challenged on account of the denial of the right to vote to voters in the SALL area who fall within the Hohoe Constituency pending the creation of a new constituency for them, the Supreme Court fundamentally erred when it claimed that the action in the High Court, Ho, was only against acts of the Electoral Commission and not about Mr Amewu”, the press release stated.
The release highlighted another fundamental error which indicated that the application for review was the court saying in one breath that “…the wrong orders of the trial High Court made on 23rd December 2020 died a natural death by the close of 2nd January 2021 and has (sic) long been buried. So, in effect, as of today 5th January 2021, there are no subsisting orders of the trial High Court to be brought to this Court to be quashed” and, in another breath, ordering that “the entire proceedings of the High Court, Ho dated 23rd December, 2020, which led to the making of the void orders of mandamus and injunction, be brought to this Court for same being quashed, and are hereby quashed.”
The press release added that “each of the grounds of our application for review has been established and the Court should, in the interests of justice, review its decision of 5th January 2021” allowing the case in the High Court, Ho, for the enforcement of the fundamental human rights of the interested parties “to run its course. The Respondents therein, including Mr Amewu and the Attorney-General, have every opportunity to present their case to that court.”
It further added that the solicitor for the applicants had written to the Registrar of the Supreme Court asking for an expedited hearing of the review application.
