Tonight, there is a stand-off at the Walewale Police Station in the Mamprusi West Municipality of the North East Region.
This was after dozens of NPP supporters besieged the facility to stop the Police from transporting two ballot boxes and the party’s voters register to Tamale.
On Monday, June 24, a Tamale High Court in the ongoing election dispute ordered the ballot boxes and the register used for the January parliamentary elections in the constituency.
The Electoral Commission responded to the order by handing over the materials to the police for onward delivery to the Court.
When armed police arrived at about 8 pm to carry the materials to Tamale, they were blocked by angry supporters of the party.
More on the June 24 ruling
Monday’s ruling placed an injunction on Dr Mahama Tia Kabiru restraining him from holding himself as the elected parliamentary candidate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) for Walewale.
The ruling, delivered on Monday, June 24, by Justice Richard Kugyapaw, follows a challenge to the election results by the incumbent Member of Parliament, Hajia Lariba Zuweratu.
In January this year, Dr Kabiru, a 35-year-old PhD holder and Vice Presidential special advisor, narrowly defeated Hajia Lariba in a tightly contested primary.
The election, conducted under heavy security with the presence of regional and constituency executives, saw Dr Kabiru winning with 345 votes to Hajia Lariba’s 338 votes.
Hajia Lariba quickly rejected the election outcome and filed an ex parte motion at the Tamale High Court, alleging electoral irregularities and malpractice by the party, Dr Kabiru, and the Electoral Commission.
She sought an injunction to prevent Dr Kabiru from holding himself as the winner, which has now been granted.
Two other candidates in the primary, Tahiru Sham-Una and Jangdoo Mahama, received 145 and 1 votes, respectively. Initially, the NPP, as a third defendant, attempted to dismiss the case, accusing Hajia Lariba of violating the party’s constitution by not exhausting internal conflict resolution mechanisms before approaching the court.
Before this ruling, supporters of the NPP in the Walewale constituency at a news conference called for the intervention of the party’s Presidential Candidate, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, to resolve the dispute.
They warned that if the issue is not addressed promptly, it could jeopardize the party’s chances in the upcoming general elections.
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