Ghana’s Supreme Court will, today, Thursday, 25 June 2020, pass its verdict on a case before it about whether the Electoral Commission can go ahead to compile a new voter roll without using the existing voter ID card as a breeder document.
The 7 member panel, presided over by Chief Justice Anin Yeboah, set the date on Wednesday, 24 June 2020 after dismissing an amicus brief filed by four policy think tanks through which they sought to join a consolidated case in which the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and a Ghanaian citizen, Mark Takyi Banson, are asking the Supreme Court to prevent the EC from excluding the current voter ID card from the voter roll compilation exercise.
The four think tanks are IMANI Africa, Alliance for Social Equity and Public Accountability (ASPEA), Conservative Policy Research Center (CPRC) and Institute for Liberty and Policy Innovation (ILAPI).
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According to the bench, the amicus brief filed by the think tanks did not necessarily bring anything new to the case and previous utterances in the media landscape by the CSOs suggest that they are supportive of one party in the case and hence cannot be a neutral party.
The bench also wondered why the think tanks had not shown interest in the first writ regarding the NDC vs Attorney General and EC, which also sought similar reliefs.
Meanwhile, opposition MP Ernest Norgbey has also filed a suit at the high court challenging the EC’s plan to compile a new register.
