Joe Ghartey Hot files appeal against Sekondi High Court’s ruling

An aspirant for the presidential ticket of the governing New Patriotic Party, Joe Ghartey, the MP for Essikado-Ketan is caught in a hot mess as he files an appeal in the Court of Appeal at Cape Coast to reverse the decision of the High Court, which allowed a lawyer to sign a petition for a petitioner who is challenging the legitimacy of Joe Ghartey to the Essikado-Ketan seat.

Prof. Dr. Grace Ayensu-Danquah, the petitioner, had gone to the High Court in Sekondi, to order Joe Ghartey and the Electoral Commission of Ghana to annul the results and produce the original pink sheets for a recount of the votes cast in the December 2020 parliamentary polls.

However, the petition was not signed by Dr. Ayensu but by her lawyer. Joe Ghartey and his lawyer, Frank Davis protested this signature, but the court dismissed their opposition.

This has prompted Joe Ghartey to go to a higher hierarchy of the judiciary to seek to overturn the High Court’s decision, saying the trial judge likened a Parliamentary election petition to a writ of summons and divorce petition on account of the fact that the commencement of proceedings by a writ of summons and a divorce petition, is governed by C.I.47, a subsidiary legislation.

The first respondent/appellant said the trial judge erred in law when he held that a lawyer can sign a Parliamentary election petition within the meaning of section 17 of PNDC Law 284.

In seeking relief from the court, Joe Ghartey’s legal team argued that the ruling of the High Court at Sekondi, on 23 March 2021, dismissing Respondent’s/ Appellant’s motion for an order dismissing the petition pursuant to Order 11 R. 18(1)(d) of C.I. 47 and under the inherent jurisdiction of the High Court, be set aside or reversed.