Dorcas Affo-Toffey
A SEKONDI High Court has set June 6 and 7, this year, for the full trial of the case in which a resident of Jomoro in the Western Region is challenging the eligibility of Dorcas Affo-Toffey to contest the seat as MP for the area.
The dates were set after the case management conference that took place yesterday.
According to the applicant, Joshua Emuah Kofie, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) MP was not qualified to contest as the people’s representative in the country’s legislative assembly.
He alleged that the MP was holding multiple nationalities –American and Ivorian citizenships, which violates the 1992 Constitution.
However, the MP denied having an American citizenship, but had an Ivorian citizenship, which she said she had renounced.
The applicant, therefore, prayed the court to grant an order to inspect documents indicating Mrs. Affo-Toffey indeed renounced her Ivorian citizenship before filing to contest the 2020 parliamentary election.
He insisted that the decision by the Electoral Commission (EC), which is the second respondent in the case, to clear the MP to contest the parliamentary elections in the Jomoro Constituency was also illegal.
He, therefore, prayed the court to declare the 1st respondent’s election as the MP for the Jomoro Constituency as null and void and of no effect whatsoever, as it violates the 1992 Constitution.
The Sekondi High Court, subsequently, ordered the MP to produce the necessary documents on her alleged renunciation of Ivorian citizenship.
The MP purportedly failed to obey the court’s order.
Mr. Kofie then initiated contempt proceedings against the MP after she allegedly failed to appear in court and provide documents on her renunciation of alleged dual citizenship.
However, the MP later appeared before the court and provided the documents on her alleged renunciation.
Counsel for the MP, Godwin Edudzi Tamakloe, therefore, pleaded with the court to strike out the contempt case, and asked for forgiveness because his client had no intentions to disrespect the orders of the court.
Lawyer for the petitioner, Bright Okyere Agyekum, however, asked the court to award a cost of GH¢20,000 against the MP, for disobeying the orders of the court and wasting their time before striking out the contempt case.
Mr. Tamakloe pleaded that his client could afford GH¢5,000, because as he put it, “things are hard.”
The court, presided over by Justice Sedinam Agbemava, struck out the case and awarded a cost of GH¢5,000 against the Jomoro MP.
FROM Emmanuel Opoku, Takoradi