Supreme Court Adjourns Contempt Case Against Bernard Mornah To July 21

The Supreme Court has adjourned a contempt application brought against the Chairman of the Peoples National Convention (PNC), Bernard Mornah. Mr. Mornah, who is also the Chairperson for Inter-Party Resistance Against the New Voters’ Register (IPRAN), is now to appear before the court on 21st July. A Supreme Court Clerk adjourned the Mornah case along with other cases that had been listed for hearing today. The Attorney General cited Mr. Mornah for contempt after the PNC Chairman had allegedly incited the public to resist the judgment of the apex court. He alleged to have called on Ghanaians to stand against the decision of the EC to compile a new register for 2020 presidential and parliamentary elections even after the Supreme Court had given the EC clearance to go ahead. According to the AG, Mr. Mornah called on Ghanaians to go out with their old voters’ cards “if it is the only form of identification they have and demand their right to be registered”. On June 25, this year, the Supreme Court affirmed the ECs independence in deciding not to accept the old voters’ cards and birth certificates as proof of eligibility of an applicant for the compilation of the new voters’ register, which has since begun. The judgment, which entailed the court declaring that the birth certificate is no proof of nationality, has dangled a lot of question marks on the wisdom of the court as it effectively makes the majority of Ghanaians, non-Ghanaians.