EC , NDC To Hold Emergency Meeting Over Dr. Duffour's Claims

Dr. Kwabena Duffuor, a candidate for the NDC's presidential nomination, believes the voter's list for the primaries is defective and wants the election postponed.

The Electoral Commission (EC) has called an emergency meeting with executives of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) to discuss concerns about the NDC's voters' register prior to the party's flag-bearer-electing primaries on 13 May.

In a letter to the Electoral Commission, NDC presidential candidate Dr. Kwabena Duffuor expressed his concerns.

The EC wrote to the NDC's general secretary, "As part of the final preparations for the party's presidential and parliamentary primaries on 13 May 2023, I am writing to invite the party to an emergency meeting with the commission."

The letter continued, "The commission has received a letter from the Kwabena Duffuor campaign team expressing concerns about the voter list for the upcoming elections."

Dr. Kwabena Duffuor, a potential NDC presidential candidate, has filed an application with the high court seeking an injunction of the presidential and parliamentary primaries scheduled for 13 May 2023.

According to the summons issued by the General Jurisdiction Court on Tuesday (9 May 2023), the plaintiff is Dr. Kwabena Duffuor and there are five defendants. They are the general secretary of the NDC, the NDC's director of elections, former president John Dramani Mahama, former KMA mayor Kojo Bonsu, and the Electoral Commission of Ghana.

The motion is scheduled to be filed in court on Monday, May 15, 2023, two days after the NDC's scheduled internal elections (May 13). The NDC's attorneys are anticipated to petition the court for a time reduction so that the application can be processed expeditiously and the elections can proceed as scheduled.

Reliefs requested
In his application, Dr. Kwabena Duffuor essentially requests three reliefs. First, he requests a "declaration that the Photo Album Register issued by the 1st defendant and 2nd defendants to the Plaintiff on 4 May 2023 as the primary document for conducting the internal Presidential election of the National Democratic Congress on 13 May, 2023 is incomplete and inaccurate."


Second, he requests "an order directing the 1st and 2nd defendants to prepare and deliver a complete and accurate Photo Album Register to the Plaintiff and other presidential aspirants of the National Democratic Congress at least five weeks prior to the elections so that the aspirants can conduct the necessary verification of the Photo Album Register."

Dr. Duffuor seeks "an injunction prohibiting the first, second, and fifth defendants from conducting the internal presidential elections of the National Democratic Congress on 13 May 2023, pending compliance with the second reliefs"

Duffuor's contention
According to Dr. Duffuor, the Photo Album Register published by the NDC's director of elections with the knowledge, consent, and tacit approval of the party's general secretary would compromise the integrity of the elections, erode public trust in the elections, and lead to disputes over election results.


In his court-filed claim, Dr. Duffuor asserts that the partial delivery of the Photo Album Register to his representatives on 4 May 2023 was insufficient given the immensity of the verification exercise required of them prior to the 13 May 2023 internal elections.

Dr. Duffuor reiterates that "to their (Duffuor team's) utter surprise, upon verification, it was discovered that the number of constituencies on the hard drive given to his representatives was 220 as opposed to the alleged number of 228 constituencies indicated by the defendant"

Moreover, "an initial verification of the aforementioned 220 constituencies on the hard drive provided to his representatives by the second defendant revealed fundamental errors and inaccuracies that render the Photo Album Register inaccurate and unreliable for free, fair, and credible elections."

In addition, Dr. Duffuor asserts that "records of some delegates have been duplicated and given different names and Party identification numbers, and a substantial number of eligible voters lack photographs on the Photo Album Register, rendering it impossible to conduct a meaningful verification exercise on these individuals."

The plaintiff adds that, for each of the 220 constituencies, an exceptional list of 74,799 individuals has been compiled in order to participate in the elections, but this list cannot be verified due to the scant information provided in the Photo Album Register.

Following these discoveries, Dr. Duffuor indicates that he caused "a petition to be submitted to the 5th defendant (EC) requesting the 5th defendant's intervention in ensuring that the 1st and 2nd defendants compile a comprehensive and accurate voter register and prevent fraudulent activities such as multiple voting, impersonation, and disenfranchisement of eligible and qualified voters."

The plaintiff, Dr. Duffuor, therefore "maintains that the 1st and 2nd defendants' reluctance to extend the time for the internal elections and provide a complete and credible Photo Album Register in advance to the presidential candidates for verification, reeks of a plot to create an unfair advantage for the manipulation of the presidential primaries."

The following is a comprehensive analysis of the Photo Album Register performed by Team Duffuor.