Frank Annoh-Dompreh Announced Winner of Nsawam Adoagyiri Parliamentary Seat

Frank Annoh-Dompreh, the incumbent Member of Parliament (MP) for Nsawam Adoagyiri, has been officially declared the winner of the 2024 parliamentary election in the constituency. This decision comes after a prolonged and disputed election process, which was ultimately resolved at the Electoral Commission’s (EC) Greater Accra Regional Office, where the final election results were collated.

Annoh-Dompreh, representing the New Patriotic Party (NPP), secured 29,660 votes in the election, narrowly defeating his closest opponent, Philibert Amenorpe Fummey of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), who obtained 29,433 votes. However, the path to declaring Annoh-Dompreh the winner was not smooth. The collation process had been interrupted on election day when supporters of both candidates gathered at the constituency’s collation center, causing disruptions and preventing the completion of the result tallying. As a result, the final declaration of the election results was put on hold.

Jean Mensa, the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission, explained the situation during a press briefing, stating that on the day of the election, the collation process was halted after the results from 143 polling stations had been compiled. She explained that efforts to resume the process on December 13, 2024, were unsuccessful, as further disruptions were expected from party supporters. As a result, the EC decided to put the collation process on hold until the following day. However, this attempt was also called off due to reports from the police about potential disturbances at the collation center, particularly the threat of supporters targeting the police depot.

At that point, the EC announced that the collation of the results could not proceed, and therefore, they could not declare a winner for the constituency at that time. This left the situation unresolved and led to growing tension between the political parties involved. Amidst this uncertainty, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) candidate, Frank Annoh-Dompreh, took legal action to force the EC to resume the collation process. On December 20, 2024, the High Court in Accra ruled in favor of Annoh-Dompreh’s application, ordering the EC to continue with the collation of the results and to declare the winner accordingly.

The court’s intervention followed a mandamus application filed by Annoh-Dompreh, which sought to compel the EC to complete its statutory duty of declaring the winner. A mandamus is a legal order that requires a public authority to perform a specific duty, and in this case, the NPP candidate called for the court to direct the EC to finalize the election results. This legal move came after the NDC candidate, Fummey, had also filed a petition requesting a re-run of the election in the Nsawam Adoagyiri Constituency, citing concerns over the disruptions during the initial collation process. The NDC’s request for a re-run of the election, however, was not supported by the court.

Following the High Court ruling, the EC resumed the collation process, and after a thorough review of the results, it was declared that Frank Annoh-Dompreh had won the election by a narrow margin of 227 votes. His victory solidified his position as the MP-elect for Nsawam Adoagyiri, despite the initial uncertainties and disputes.

The legal action and the subsequent ruling reflect the intense political environment surrounding the 2024 parliamentary elections in the constituency. The events have highlighted the challenges in ensuring a smooth and uncontested election process, especially in highly competitive constituencies. Both the NPP and the NDC, as major political players, will continue to watch the development of this case and similar ones across the country. The outcome of this dispute also underscores the critical role of the judiciary in maintaining order and transparency in Ghana’s electoral process, ensuring that the democratic process is upheld despite challenges along the way.