The Koforidua High Court has upheld an injunction restraining the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Parliamentary Candidate, Ernest Kumi, from holding himself out as the Member of Parliament-elect for Akwatia Constituency.
The ruling also prevents the Clerk of Parliament from swearing him in as the MP for the constituency.
The Akwatia seat was one of several contested in the recent elections, with the results declared by the Electoral Commission at the National Police Training School in Tesano, Accra.
On Thursday, January 2, the court granted an injunction request filed by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) parliamentary candidate, Henry Boakye Yiadom, against the Electoral Commission, Ernest Kumi, and the Clerk of Parliament, halting Kumi’s swearing-in.
NPP counsel, Gary Nimako Marfo, argued that the injunction was improperly filed and based on an inappropriate petition.
He further contended that election results can only be challenged 21 days after they have been published and gazetted, urging the court to dismiss both the injunction order and the petition entirely.
Mintah Larbi, the Director of Legal Affairs for the NDC in the Eastern Region, expressed confidence in the court’s handling of what he described as an injustice in the December 7 elections. “We are positive about the outcome based on our submissions today,” he said.
Meanwhile, counsel for NPP’s Ernest Kumi, Gary Nimako Marfo, asked the court to set aside the interim injunction order granted on January 2, along with all related processes. He declined further comment after the proceedings.
