Some prospective voters in the Ho West Constituency of the Volta Region, whose eligibility are being challenged, failed to appear before a magistrate court in Dzolokpuita.
The voters, numbering about 171, were accused of not being residents in the areas where the polling stations with their details were located in the just ended voter exhibition exercise.
The appellants, Godwin Adinyirah and Moro Bamba, are challenging seventy-two voters in Gbadzeme in the Avatime Traditional Area and fifty-eight people in Togorme in the Hornuta Traditional Area.
[contextly_sidebar id=”ujB1lCO3eVh5jluPKdxGa7Hcj4C2TNnq”]In a petition to the court yesterday, the appellants asked for an order for the Electoral Commission (EC) to delete the names of the challenged persons.
However, the respondents failed to show up in court when the case was called.
The District EC Officer, Regina Tackey, who was in court, lamented that they were unable to verify the residential areas of the challenged persons.
She said there were several failed attempts to serve with the writ of summon including engaging town criers and consulting the traditional authorities.
The court later adjourned the case to Friday August 19, 2016.
Lawyer for the plaintiffs, Emmanuel Ohene, told Citi News that there are other similar cases in Tsibu in the Awudome Traditional Area and the Kpedze Township in the Ho West Constituency.
Despite the absence of respondents, the Member of Parliament (MP) for the area, Emmanuel Bedzrah appeared in court and said he came to protect the fundamental rights of his constituents.
“My interest in this case is that, we have passed a law in Parliament and we want to test the law to see whether it works. And also the fundamental human rights of the people is paramount; you cannot decide that this person belongs or perceived to belong to this political party therefore the name should be deleted from the register. I believe it would not be in the best interest of the people.”
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By: King Norbert Akpablie/citifmonline.com/Ghana