The flag bearer of the People’s National Convention (PNC), Bernard Mornah, has taken legal action against the Electoral Commission (EC) following his disqualification from contesting in the 2024 presidential election.
On Tuesday, September 24, 2024, Mornah filed a lawsuit at the Accra High Court, seeking to overturn the EC’s decision, which had disqualified him along with ten other presidential candidates.
Bernard Mornah contends that, despite being given the opportunity to correct errors on his nomination forms, his disqualification was unjustified.
The EC’s reasons for disqualifying him included incomplete particulars of his supporting voters, improper use of registered voters from one district back to his nomination in other districts, varying signatures for same supporters and the submission of identical signatures for different supporters.
In his lawsuit, Mornah is asking the court for an order of mandamus to compel the EC Chairperson, who is acting as the Returning Officer, to declare him duly nominated for the presidential election.
Additionally, he is requesting that the EC and the Returning Officer be restrained from printing ballot papers or proceeding with any further steps in the presidential election until his candidacy is reinstated.
Bernard Mornah is among the group of disqualified candidates who have voiced their dissatisfaction with the EC’s procedures, accusing the body of obstructing their participation in the election.
The Electoral Commission, prior to that, stated that, all disqualified candidates were given ample time to address issues related to their nomination forms, and those who failed to do so were disqualified in accordance with the law.
The EC is expected to defend its stance in court in the coming weeks.
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Story by: Joycelyn Glory | univers.ug.edu.gh
