Your electoral rights will be protected – CJ assures Ghanaians

Chief Justice Georgina Theodora Wood has assured Ghanaians of the judiciary’s preparedness to protect the electoral rights of the citizenry ahead of the December elections.

Speaking at a special forum organised by the Judiciary on the theme ‘The Judiciary and 2016 Election’ in Accra, the Chief Justice said the court has since the start of 2016 demonstrated its readiness to expedite action on electoral disputes brought before it and would do same in the coming days.

With some 42 days to the presidential and parliamentary election, the EC has come under several court actions after disqualifying some 12 political parties from the election for not meeting the criteria for filing.

The Progressive People’s Party (PPP), the National Democratic Party (NDP) and the All People’s Congress (APC) have since sued the EC over the matter.
Other political parties namely the People’s National Convention (PNC) and the Great Consolidated Popular Party (GCPP) have also said they would sue the EC in court in the coming days over the disqualification.
Many believe the recent development might not augur well for a smooth election, as the results might be challenged in court.
But the Chief Justice said “…this is where I would like to assure our people that the judiciary has the men and women committed to safeguarding and protecting their electoral rights; rights which are clearly based on the fundamental rights of the individual.”
“Without compromising the rule of law and sacrificing the judicial process, the highest standard of judiciary leadership is therefore called for demonstrated inter alia through focused hearings on the germane or real issues in controversy,” she said.
She also called for “impartiality, fairness, equal opportunities to parties and to be heard coupled with the judges’ independents and legitimate authority to lead the process so that it would end in a transparently just result.”