Baba Jamal
A High Court in Accra has dismissed a suit filed by Democracy Hub challenging the candidacy of Mohammed Baba Jamal Ahmed for the Ayawaso East by-election, scheduled for today.
The group, in a suit filed before the court, was seeking to stop the Electoral Commission (EC) from recognising Baba Jamal as the National Democratic Congress (NDC) candidate for the Ayawaso East by-election on grounds of alleged vote-buying during the February 7, 2026 primary.
In the suit filed against the NDC, the EC and the Attorney General, the group was asking the court to set aside the EC’s recognition of Baba Jamal as the NDC’s candidate and to restrain the Commission from accepting his candidature until a fresh primary is held in the area.
“An order of mandamus directed at the 2nd Defendant to refuse to accept or act upon the nomination of the said candidate unless and until a primary conducted in accordance with democratic principles is held.”
Democracy Hub was also seeking a declaration that the NDC primary was characterised by widespread vote buying, inducement, and monetisation, and that relying on its outcome to present a candidate breaches Article 55(5) of the Constitution and Section 9 of the Political Parties Act, 2000 (Act 574).
“A declaration that the parliamentary primary conducted by the 1st Defendant for the Ayawaso East Constituency, having been found to have been characterised by widespread vote buying, inducement and monetisation, did not conform to the democratic principles required under Article 55(5) of the Constitution, and that the continued reliance on the outcome thereof and the presentation of a candidate founded on that process constitute actions contrary to and inconsistent with the Constitution in violation of section 9 of the Political Parties Act, 2000 (Act 574).”
The NDC, in a response, filed a preliminary objection asking the court to dismiss the suit, describing it as incompetent and defective.
The party argued that the High Court lacked jurisdiction to interpret provisions (Articles 55(5) and 45(b)) of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana, which is exclusively reserved for the Supreme Court under Articles 2(1)(a) and 130(1)(a) of the 1992 Constitution.
“The Respondent cannot seek the judicial review reliefs of certiorari and mandamus through a writ action; therefore, the procedure adopted by the Respondent is procedurally incompetent.
It added that Democracy Hub has no “locus standi to pursue the instant matter in this Honourable Court,” and asked the court to dismiss the suit before it.
Justice Kwasi Agyenim-Boateng, in a ruling, partially granted the preliminary objection by finding that the process used by the group was incompetent.
The Ayawaso East primary held by the NDC on February 7 was overshadowed by widespread allegations of vote buying and inducement.
The Functional Executive Committee (FEC) of the party had called for the annulment of results of the primary that saw some of the candidates share multiple items to delegates who voted.
The Majority in Parliament had also called for the immediate annulment of the party’s parliamentary primary in the Ayawaso East Constituency, following allegations of vote buying during the exercise.
But the party decided to stick with Baba Jamal as its parliamentary candidate for the by-election, stating that although the committee’s report was to the effect that the primary should be annulled, the party is unable to do so due to some circumstances making it impossible, including the fact that the party’s constitution does not have a provision for the annulment of an election.
BY Gibril Abdul Razak
