The Supreme Court has stayed a case involving the Electoral Commission and #FixTheCountry chairman Oliver Barker-Formawor, allowing the commission to be reconstituted.
Barker Worumawole in January 2022 petitioned President Akufo-Addo for the removal of the Chairman of the Electoral Commission and his Deputy Chairman over their handling of the Santrokofi, Akpafu, Lolobi and Likpe (SALL) issue.
In their petition, activists alleged that the actions of the Electoral Commission Chairman and his deputies deliberately denied the people of SALL their right to vote in the 2020 elections.
However, in a counterclaim, the Chairman of the Electoral Commission sued Barker-Formawar and named the Attorney General and the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court as defendants, seeking to block the impeachment proceedings.
EC officials argued that Oliver Barker-Formavol’s public publication of the contents of the petition seeking their removal was in breach of Article 146(8) of the 1992 Constitution, which provides that “all proceedings under this article shall be conducted in private and any judge or chairman against whom a petition is filed shall have the right to be heard in his defence, either by himself or by a lawyer or other expert of his choice.”
In court on Wednesday, June 5, Chief Justice Gertrude Turkounou, who presided over the panel of judges, suggested that she should recuse herself since she was listed as a defendant. She asked the parties if they had any objection to her taking over the case, but the Electoral Commission’s lawyer responded that they did not, as the motion was to stop the case altogether.
However, lawyers from the #FixTheCountry movement, led by Samuel Alesh Dorji, objected to the Chief Justiceβs inclusion on the committee.
The Supreme Court then adjourned the case to reconstitute the review committee.
Meanwhile, days after qualifying as a lawyer, Ghanaian YouTuber, Elom Ababio also known as Governor Ama, appeared before the Supreme Court as part of the defence team of Mr Oliver Barker Wolmawo.
The social media influencer’s journey to becoming a solicitor has been marked by successive rejections from the Law Council in 2022 and 2023.
A graduate of the Ghana Law School, she made waves online when she was denied admission to the Bar in 2022 and 2023.
The Law Council cited “conduct unbecoming of an applicant for admission to the bar” as the reason for not allowing her to become a barrister.
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SALL disenfranchisement: Your actions are deliberate, negligent and criminal – Barker Vollmauer to EC