The Ho High Court has dismissed the petition challenging the validity of the election of John Peter Amewu as Member of Parliament (MP) for Hohoe.
The petition was filed by a 2020 parliamentary candidate for the Hohoe constituency, Professor Margaret Kweku and others from Santrokofi, Akpafu, Likpe, and Lolobi (SALL).
In their application, the petitioners insisted that they were denied their right to vote in the Hohoe constituency after the creation of the Oti region, which warranted the creation of a new constituency.
According to them, the creation of the Oti region, coupled with a Supreme Court decision and failure of the Electoral Commission to create a constituency for them, meant they did not vote for a parliamentary candidate in the 2020 general election, which saw the then-NPP candidate Amewu emerging as the winner.
This, they said, was a breach of their rights.
The Electoral Commission, however, urged the court to dismiss the application as the petitioners have provided no grounds to support their case.
“It is a petition filed not to challenge the way the voting went, was counted, results declared and gazetted, but a matter filed to challenge laws of the land which challenge is only within the exclusive preserve of the Supreme Court and not the high court,” the EC said.
After listening to the parties, the court, on Monday, July 29, dismissed the petition on grounds of lack of jurisdiction.
The court pointed out that the issues raised by the petitioner are solely within the jurisdiction of the apex court.