An activist of the A National Democratic Congress (NDC), Sadat Mbawini Jambeidu, has sued the party over the guides for the conduct of its Parliamentary Primaries.
In a writ of summons filed by his lawyers, attached the General Secretary of the NDC, Johnson Asiedu-Nketiah, as a second defendant.
According to the writ, in 2019, the second defendant with the consent and concurrence of the National Executive Committee of the 1st Defendant (NDC), published to the members of the first defendant, “guidelines for the election of NDC Parliamentary Candidates for the 2020 elections.”
The plaintiff who is a teacher and a member of the NDC in the Upper East Region, averred that paragraph 6 (B) of the guidelines for the election of parliamentary candidates for the 2020 elections requires any member of the National Executive Committee (NEC) or the Regional Executive Committee who decides to contest for any of the parliamentary seats to resign his position on the submission of his nomination form to contest the election.
However, it is the case of Mr Jambeidu “that the requirement for any member of the National or Regional Executive Committee to resign his position upon submission of his nomination form to contest in the parliamentary election is inconsistent with both the letter and the spirit of the NDC’s Constitution and therefore null and void.”
The plaintiff is therefore praying the court among other things for a declaration that paragraph 6 (B) of the “guidelines for the election of NDC Parliamentary Candidates for the 2020 elections” is inconsistent with the spirit and letter of the Constitution of the NDC and therefore is null and void.”
He is also praying for a declaration that the Constitution of the NDC does not require members of the National and Regional Executive Committee of the party to resign their positions upon submission of their nomination forms to contest the parliamentary election.
Furthermore, he is seeking an order directed at the defendants to withdraw from the said guidelines the requirement that any member of the National or Regional Executive Committee who decides to contest in the party’s parliamentary election must resign his position upon submitting his nomination form to contest the election.
Lawyer for the plaintiff is Richard Badombie.
BY Melvin Tarlue