Minority disputes High Court order for Kpandai election rerun

The Minority Caucus in Parliament has expressed reservations regarding the High Court ruling that ordered a fresh parliamentary election in the Kpandai constituency, arguing that the original vote was transparent and accurately reflected the will of the electorate.

On Monday, the Tamale High Court, presided over by Justice Emmanuel Brew Plange, annulled the 2024 parliamentary results and directed the Electoral Commission to conduct a rerun within 30 days.

The ruling followed a petition by National Democratic Congress (NDC) candidate Daniel Nsala Wakpal, who challenged the victory of Matthew Nyindam. Wakpal claimed that the election was marred by irregularities, including inconsistencies from 41 out of 152 polling stations. He also argued that his absence from Tamale during the final collation and a number of clerical errors should call the declaration into question.

However, the Minority Caucus rejected those grounds in a statement, stating that the claims did not meet the threshold required to overturn a constituency-wide result. It pointed out that even the main witness for the petitioner admitted that the total number of disputed votes amounted to about 500, far fewer than Nyindam’s winning margin of more than 3,700.

As stated by Minority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin, all party agents had signed the Pink Sheets at every polling station, verifying the accuracy of the tally before the collation centre was relocated to Tamale.

The group also alleged that NDC supporters had attempted to disrupt the electoral process on election night, doubting the Electoral Commission’s ability to complete the declaration. Despite these confrontations, officials proceeded with the count and announced Nyindam as the winner with 27,947 votes to Wakpal’s 24,213.

The Minority described the High Court’s decision to nullify the entire vote as ‘deeply concerning’, arguing that the evidence presented in court did not justify such a sweeping order. It stated that the issues raised, including clerical errors and the candidate’s absence from the regional collation centre, did not undermine the overall integrity of the election.

‘A notice of appeal and an application for a stay of execution have both been filed,’ the statement noted, casting uncertainty over whether the Electoral Commission would meet the 30-day deadline for a rerun.

The Minority Caucus reaffirmed its commitment to the rule of law while expressing confidence that the appeals process would restore the ‘democratic outcome delivered by the voters of Kpandai’.