Dr. Kwadwo Afari-Gyan, a former chairman of the Electoral Commission, is recommending harsh penalties for those who lose their election petitions in court.
In a speech at the University of Professional Studies, Accra (UPSA) Law School and the One Ghana Movement’s Constitutional Day Public Lecture, Dr. Kwadwo Afari-Gyan suggested that these sanctions would discourage people from swarming the courts with election petitions.
“It appears that some candidates rush to court with election petitions alleging manipulation of results, primarily to placate their financiers and supporters so that they will be given another chance to be a candidate in the next elections,” he said.
He also voiced worries about the strain and possible harm to the courts’ reputation that comes with receiving so many swift petitions. He gave Nigeria as an example and recommended that action be taken in Ghana to reduce similar occurrences.
“The rush can cause undeserved injury to the reputation of the Electoral Commission and unnecessary inundation of the court. As we speak, there are over one thousand election petitions before the courts in Nigeria following the 2023 elections, and some of them will not be concluded before the next election.
“To prevent the rush to court with improbable election petitions from becoming a fashion, I suggest that election petitions that do not succeed should attract punitive sanctions.”
