The Minority Caucus in Parliament has rejected the High Court’s decision annulling the 2024 parliamentary results in Kpandai and ordering a fresh election within 30 days.
The Caucus has since filed a notice of appeal and a motion for a stay of execution.
In a statement signed by Minority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin, the Caucus said the electoral process in the constituency was transparent and followed with a credible declaration.
In a detailed account of the sequence of events surrounding the election, the statement explained:
“The Minority Caucus wishes to clarify the facts surrounding the 2024 parliamentary election in the Kpandai Constituency and recent developments that have followed. The records show a transparent process, a credible declaration, and a result that reflected the will of the people. It is important for the public to have a full understanding of what occurred before, during, and after the collation.
“Hon Mathew Nyindam won the parliamentary election with a margin of 3,734 votes. After the NDC secured the presidential results, the NDC parliamentary candidate, Hon Daniel Nsala Wakpal, gathered a group of supporters who arrived at the collation centre in a Mahindra pickup wearing NDC T-shirts. They damaged some ballot boxes in an attempt to interrupt the collation, believing that the Electoral Commission would not have the pink sheets required to complete the declaration. The tension that followed created serious security risks and led the Electoral Commission to move the final declaration to its regional office in Tamale. All NDC agents had already signed the pink sheets at every polling station across the constituency, confirming the accuracy of the results.”
The statement alleged that when Mr. Wakpal realised that he had lost the election, he refused to go to Tamale for the collation and later challenged the results in court.
“His case focused on his absence in Tamale and on clerical errors in 41 out of 152 polling stations. During the trial, the main witness for the NDC stated that the total votes in contention were about 500. Even if the court had awarded all 500 votes to the NDC candidate, he would still have lost by more than 3,000 votes. Despite this clear position, the Tamale.”
The Minority, against this backdrop, said the ruling raises concerns because the facts did not support the decision.
“A notice of appeal and an application for a stay of execution have both been filed,” the Minority declared.
The Minority expressed continued commitment to the rule of law and believes that the appellate process will restore confidence in the democratic outcome delivered by the voters of Kpandai.
