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Chief Justice Nominee, Paul Baffoe-Bonnie, has suggested that Ghana’s general elections be held on November 7 instead of the customary December 7 in order to give enough time for election petitions to be heard and decided before the inauguration of a new government.
This proposal was made in response to concerns regarding the protracted nature of electoral dispute resolutions. Currently, Ghana’s elections take place on January 7, a one-month window that, in practice, makes it nearly impossible for an aggrieved political party to have its petition resolved with the new administration in office.
Justice Baffoe-Bonnie asserts that a month-earlier election date will facilitate prompt and transparent conflict resolution for both political parties and the judiciary.
“After the election petition, we came to the conclusion that it should be possible to have petitions concluded before January 7, which is the inauguration day. The best suggestion that came up was to hold elections on November 7 or 8,” he explained.
He elaborated that if elections were conducted in early November, results could be declared by November 10, giving the country about 57 days — from mid-November to early January — to handle potential legal challenges.
“Assuming we go by the 42-day window provided by CI 99, petitions can be filed, responded to, and tried within that period,” he added.
Additionally, Justice Baffoe-Bonnie advocated the use of electronic court document delivery, claiming that it might greatly reduce the delays brought on by the physical delivery of procedures to respondents.
“Every originating process has to be served personally on the respondent. But in this age, we can use digital addresses or phone numbers for online contact. If petitions are served electronically, it can take three days instead of a week,” he said.
He emphasized that all procedures could be finished by November 30 with such modifications, enabling trials to end in two weeks and guaranteeing efficiency and impartiality in the resolution of election disputes.
Source: Ghanatodayonline.com
