[2012]DLSC6404 • November 14, 2012 • Supreme Court •
FRANK DAVIES vs. ATTORNEY-GENERAL AND THE ELECTORAL COMMISSION
The plaintiff challenged the constitutionality of the Electoral Commission's inclusion of newly created constituencies under Constitutional Instrument Number 78 (C.I. 78) in the December 7, 2012 general elections. The plaintiff argued that under Article 47(6) of the 1992 Constitution, alterations to electoral boundaries only take effect upon the next dissolution of Parliament, which was due in January 2013, and thus the new constituencies should not be contested in the 2012 elections.
read moreATUGUBA, J.S.C. On the 4th of October, 2012 the plaintiff issued in this court a writ, J/1/2013 against the defendants claiming as follows: 1. "A declaration that upon a true and proper interpretation of Article 47(6) of the Constitution of the Republic of Ghana, 1992 (hereinafter, the "Constitution") the alteration of electoral boundaries pursuant to the Representation of the People (Parliamentary Constituencies) Instrument, 2012 (Constitutional Instrument Number 78) which passed in Parliament on October 2, 2012 (hereinafter, "C.I. 78") cannot come into effect until the next dissolution of Parliament in January 2013. 2. A declaration that not having come into effect, the constituencies created as a result of the alteration of the electoral boundaries under C.I. 78 shall not be included among the constituencies to be contested in the general elections seated [SIC] for December 7, 2012. 3. An order of perpetual injunction restraining the Electoral Commission from including the n...