The Human Rights Division of the Accra High Court has ordered the Electoral Commission (EC ) to implement the Representation of the People Amendment Act (ROPAA)2006 (Act699), which gives Ghanaians in the diaspora the right to vote, within 12 months.
Per the court order, the EC must operationalise the Act by laying a constitutional provision (CI) before Parliament to set out the modalities for the implementation of the Act.
In a judgement delivered Monday, the Court, presided over by Mr Justice Anthony Yeboah, said the 12 months grace period starts from January 1, 2018 and it is to enable Ghanaians in the diaspora to vote in the 2020 elections
In case the electoral body has any justifiable reason not to comply with the order, the court ordered it to within 30 days to the expiration of the deadline, publish its reasons and also appear before the court to explain.
The judgement was the culmination of a legal suit filed by 5 Ghanaians in the diaspora, who went to court on the basis that the EC had deliberately refused to implement the Act 699, 11 years after it was passed.
They argued that the refusal of the EC to implement Act 699 was an affront to their fundamental human rights as enshrined by the 1992 Constitution.
They, therefore, wanted the court to order the EC to kickstart the implementation of the Act since it was its statutory obligation.
In the judgement, the court held that the EC had failed to justify the delay in implementation of the Act.
According to the court although the EC was aware of its obligation to implement the Act, it “deliberately” failed to implement and gave no cogent justification
“The 1st respondent (EC) is only good at reciting the challenges in implementing the Act and not finding solutions to the challenges”, Mr Justice Yeboah said.
Also the court ruled that it was “outrageous “ for the EC to set itself an indefinite deadline to implement the Act without taking into consideration the rights of Ghanaians in the diaspora
Source: Daily Graphic
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This is clearly another victory for our democracy and we in diaspora will chew the meat of whoever the EC chair will be if it fails to implement this from next year. I know the low IQ ndc members will soon organise press conferences that ROPAAL can not be done. Really Ghana is working again under the able leadership of the incorruptible savior prez Nehemiah Addo Dankwah Akufo-Addo
You must be still in a comfortable lead with Kwaku Nokwafo and Asem b3ba dabi. Remain in that state of comfortable lead, as for us, we are moving forward.One characteristic feature of NDC is that nothing can be done. That of NPP is that it can be done...
Ghanaians in togo, Benin, nigeria , burkina faso ivory coast would be allowed to Vote... thier foolishness is too much....
I dont know what is wrong with our justices of the courts. There are so many things in the constitution which are not being implemented. We are not able to manage our elections within ghana and we want to add more troubles. Time will tell
A victory well deserve by Ghanaians in the diaspora. Indeed our democracy has been challenged again in a competent court of jurisdiction, and justice has prevailed once again. Kudos to our brothers who have fought incessantly to bring this matter to the fore.
This is a good ruling. The point is that it is a constitutional Provision and EC must obey and implement the provision. It is the duty of EC to have all the qualifying conditions in place at all times. If other nationalities are taking undue advantage of the implementation, EC must keep reviewing and controlling their implementation regulations, no matter the cost. The EC is an arm of the constitution and has a huge budget from the govt so why is it not doing its work. Indeed no political party should be afraid of the expansion of the electoral base. This is challenge to all the institutions involved. This court ruling is a blessing in disguise
Not everything that glitter is gold so we must be careful as a nation not to open our gates to fraudsters to take undue advantage of citizens. Do we have credible records of our citizens leaving outside? We all know that some citizens of other nations are holding Ghanaian passports due to our recklessness so what happens to such peoples. If indeed those in the diaspora want to vote they must come home during election periods, that is their choice too.