SALL case: Petitioners appeal Ho High Court ruling on Amewu

The petitioners in the case of Santrokofi, Akpafu, Likpe and Lolobi have filed an appeal against the decision of the Ho High Court to throw out the petition challenging the election of John Peter Amewu as member of Parliament for Hohoe.

They said in their appeal that “the trial judge egregiously erred in dismissing the petition on the ground that the High Court did not have jurisdiction.”

“The trial judge erred in failing to appreciate that on a proper interpretation of C.1 112, the SALL traditional areas did not become part of the Oti region but remain part of the Hohoe Municipality as well as Hohoe Constituency, matters which did not require constitutional interpretation.”

They also indicated that the trial judge erred in failing to recognise that there were multiple statutory breaches on the part of the Electoral Commission, which rendered the election of Mr Amewu void by virtue of the Representation Peoples Law 1992 (PNDCL284) Section 20(1)(b).

They are therefore seeking reliefs including an order setting aside the judgment of the high court delivered on July 29.

“A declaration that the election of the 2nd respondent as MP for the Hohoe constituency following the December 2020 parliamentary election is null and void,” they added.

The Ho High Court dismissed the petition on grounds of lacking jurisdiction.

The validity of Mr. Amewu’s elections was challenged on the basis of the inability of some 13 communities from SALL who were denied the opportunity to vote in the parliamentary elections in the December 2020 exercise.

The residents have since been left without a representation in Parliament. Five residents from SALL petitioned the Ho High Court to nullify the election of John-Peter Amewu to become MP.

After making a late entry into the hearing of the petition, John-Peter Amewu at the last hearing introduced three new issues to the case, which the NDC in the region says was a ploy to delay the case.