Adoa News Adoa News
Related Articles
A fresh wave of political tension has erupted following the High Court’s order for a rerun of the Kpandai Parliamentary election, a decision that has sharply divided Parliament and heightened scrutiny on the Electoral Commission (EC).
The ruling, delivered by Justice Maneul Bart-Plange Brew, found that the electoral irregularities uncovered in court were so widespread and severe that they could not be limited to only the 41 polling stations cited in the petition. According to the judge, the pink sheets presented by both the petitioner and the Electoral Commission were riddled with numerical inconsistencies, conflicting tallies, illegible figures, unexplained cancellations, and discrepancies between the EC’s official copies and those held by the petitioner.
Justice Brew noted in his written judgment that the mistakes “went to the roots of the results,” making it impossible to determine the true will of the people. In several instances, the court found drastic mismatches—for example, a pink sheet listing 1,422 votes in a column that did not correspond with any other figure, and another at Kpalung Primary School, where the EC’s record showed 261 votes while the petitioner’s copy reflected 325.
He further stressed that if such errors existed within the 41 sheets submitted in court, there was “no way of knowing” what irregularities might exist in the remaining 111 polling stations whose documents were not provided. The situation was worsened by the destruction or disappearance of essential election materials, including some BVD machines and original collation documents, which made any thorough verification impossible. The court also criticised the EC’s pink sheets as “tainted,” describing them as heavily altered with over-writing, deepened ink, cancellations, and inconsistent handwriting.
Following the ruling, Parliament wrote to the Electoral Commission officially declaring the Kpandai seat vacant, paving the way for a fresh election.
However, this move sparked dramatic scenes in the House yesterday. The Minority caucus staged a strong protest, insisting that Parliament had acted prematurely and demanding that the decision be rescinded. Their agitation led to heated exchanges and a brief moment of chaos on the floor as both sides struggled to assert their position.
The Minority argues that Parliament overstepped its mandate and should have waited for further clarification from the EC or for potential appeals. The Majority, on the other hand, maintains that the declaration of vacancy was the natural consequence of the High Court’s ruling.
As the political standoff intensifies, the people of Kpandai remain without representation in Parliament, awaiting the EC’s next move on when a rerun election will be held.
