[2020]DLSC9258 • June 24, 2020 • Supreme Court •
VALENTINE EDEM DZATSE vs. MR HENRY AMETEFE AND 5 OTHERS
The case arose from a constitutional question referred by the High Court, Ho, concerning the consistency of Constitutional Instrument (C.I.) 95, which delimits constituency boundaries, with Article 47(2) of the 1992 Constitution, following the creation of the Oti Region by C.I. 112. The issue was whether the Hohoe Constituency, which under C.I. 95 included traditional areas now in the Oti Region, violated the constitutional provision that no constituency shall straddle more than one region.
read morePWAMANG, JSC: This case is a reference by the High Court, Ho of a question involving the enforcement and interpretation of the Constitution, 1992 that arose on the face of the processes filed in Suit No. E12/09/2020 pending in that court. We have examined the case stated in the reference by the trial judge and considered the documents attached to it and are of the view that the appropriate question that has to be answered in this reference is whether or not C.I. 95 which is the subsisting legislation that delimits constituency boundaries in Ghana is inconsistent with Article 47(2) of the Constitution, 1992 by virtue of C.I. 112 which contains the boundaries of the newly created Oti Region, to the extent that C.I. 95 provides that the traditional areas of Santrokofi, Akpafu, Lipke and Lolobi all in the Oti Region are part of the Hohoe Constituency in the Volta Region of Ghana and therefore to the extent of that inconsistency is unconstitutional. We do not find the reference in the cas...