The National Democratic Congress (NDC) has condemned the Electoral Commission’s (EC) decision to disqualify its parliamentary candidate for Amenfi Central, Joana Gyan Cudjoe, calling it a “travesty of justice.”
The party argued that the grounds for Cudjoe’s disqualification lacked legal foundation and were influenced by partisanship.
Mr. Fifi Fiavi Kwetey, General Secretary of the NDC, sharply criticized the EC’s decision during a press conference in Accra, describing it as “legally baseless.”
In a letter dated October 10, 2024, Mr. Samuel Tettey, Deputy Chairman of Operations, stated that Joana Cudjoe was disqualified due to a pending court case challenging her eligibility to run on the NDC ticket in the 2024 general elections.
Furthermore, the NDC has filed an injunction application to prevent the EC from proceeding with the printing of parliamentary ballot papers and notices of poll for the Amenfi Central constituency.
Mr Fiifi Kwetey also stated that despite the injunction’s expiry, the EC still disqualified Joana Cudjoe, violating the party’s rights.
“The EC in an astonishing display of incompetence, recklessness and bad faith had gone ahead to disqualify Joana Gyan Cudjoe.
Their actions are based on the premise of an expired injunction, that is no longer application.
“On what basis did you disqualify Joana Gyan, and on what legal grounds did you justify this disqualification? Are you so blinded by partisanship?
“This is not legally unsound, but deeply dangerous for the future of our democracy. We annulled the earlier injunction… This is nothing short of a travesty of justice, a violation of the rights of our candidate, and the rights of the violation of the people of Amenfi Central.
“The decision to disqualify Joan Cudjoe is legally baseless, morally indefensible and a slap in the face of our democratic principle.
They [EC] must explain to Ghanaians this blatant miscarriage of justice,” he said.
