The Northern Regional Executives of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) have firmly rejected a High Court directive ordering a rerun of the parliamentary election in the Kpandai constituency. The party insists that the incumbent MP, Matthew Nyindam, won legitimately and that a rerun would undermine the will of the electorate.
The Commercial Division of the High Court in Tamale, on Monday the 24th, ruled that a fresh election should be held following a petition challenging the results. But at a news conference in Tamale, the NPP’s regional leadership dismissed the ruling as flawed and unjust.
Addressing journalists, the Northern Regional Communications Director, Yussif Danjuma, stated that the party would not accept any attempt to overturn what he described as a clear and constitutionally valid victory.
“We address you today not merely to react automatically, but to defend the sanctity of the ballot, the sovereignty of the voter and the constitutional foundations of Ghana’s democracy,” he said. Danjuma argued that the court’s decision represented “a grave miscarriage of justice”, especially when, in the party’s view, the petitioners failed to present substantive grounds to invalidate the results from 152 polling stations.
He emphasized that the MP had already been sworn in and was recognized as the sitting Member of Parliament, not only by the NPP but also by the Minority leadership in Parliament and the Speaker. According to him, the Speaker had earlier indicated it would be premature to halt the MP’s participation in parliamentary business until any appeal before a higher court was concluded.
Danjuma insisted that the “sovereign mandate of the people of Kpandai” had been duly granted and must be respected.
Reinforcing the regional executive’s position, Northern Regional Chairman Mohammed Adam Bantima Samba strongly criticized the ruling, calling it a “misjudgment” that disregarded electoral procedures and constitutional guidelines.
He argued that all 152 polling stations had their results properly recorded on signed and verified pink sheets, endorsed by both the Electoral Commission and political party agents, including representatives of the NDC and NPP. Once ballot boxes were forwarded to the constituency collation centre, he said, the Electoral Commission completed its mandate without any irregularity significant enough to warrant a rerun.
Samba questioned why the petitioners pursued the case, insisting that the NDC’s challenge neither met legal thresholds nor demonstrated evidence capable of overturning the declared results. He stressed that, in a functioning democracy, validated pink sheets remain the legal basis for certification of results even if ballot boxes are later disputed or contested.
“What is democracy,” he asked, “if an election is conducted successfully, all party agents sign off on the results, and yet the court sets them aside without relying on the very documents that certify those results?”
Samba reiterated his confidence that Mathew Nyindam would ultimately retain his seat after the legal processes conclude. He assured party supporters that NPP lawyers were preparing an appeal and expressed optimism that the appellate court would overturn what he described as a misunderstood interpretation of electoral law.
The regional leadership vowed to defend the legitimacy of the Kpandai results while urging supporters to remain calm. As the case proceeds, the political stakes in the constituency and the broader implications for electoral jurisprudence remain high.
Story by: Noah Nash/Tamale
