Entire Kpandai election annulment “far-fetched” – Egyapa Mercer

Former Sekondi MP, Andrew Egyapa Mercer, has described the Tamale High Court’s decision to annul the entire 2024 parliamentary election in the Kpandai constituency as “far-fetched”.

He questioned why the court nullified all 152 polling stations when the petitioner’s concerns involved only 41.

In an interview, Mr. Mercer said the ruling raises serious doubts about judicial consistency in handling electoral disputes.

“For the petitioner to challenge 41 polling stations and for the court to cancel the results of the entire constituency is amazing. Ordinarily, a court would limit its ruling to the specific polling stations in question. To go beyond that is far-fetched,” he said.

He referred to the Supreme Court’s 2012/2013 Presidential Election Petition between Nana Akufo-Addo vs. the Electoral Commission and John Mahama where the Court ruled that votes cannot be invalidated simply because electoral officers failed to perform certain duties.

“Following that precedent, it is hard to accept that the entire Kpandai election could be nullified over complaints about 41 polling stations. A reasonable approach would have been to order a rerun only in those polling stations where irregularities were proven,” he added.

Mr. Mercer also questioned the legal rationale for extending the annulment to polling stations not even challenged by the petitioner.

“How can the remaining stations be considered tainted when no evidence was presented against them?” he asked.

Earlier this week, the Tamale High Court, led by Justice Emmanuel Brew Plange, annulled the 2024 Kpandai parliamentary election and ordered a fresh poll within 30 days.

The case was filed by NDC candidate Daniel Nsala Wakpal, who alleged serious irregularities in 41 out of 152 polling stations, citing inconsistencies in Form 8A (pink sheets) that violated Regulations 39 and 43 of the Public Elections Regulations (CI 127).

The court ruled that the non-compliance “materially affected” the integrity of the vote, leading to the decision for a rerun across the entire constituency rather than only in the disputed stations.