Bailiffs served a substituted service last Wednesday (March 5, 2025) to John Peter Amewu, the former Member of Parliament (MP) for Hohoe, requiring him to appear before the Koforidua Court of Appeal.
The Court of Appeal in Koforidua issued an order for the appeal challenging the validity of Amewu’s election to be served on him through substituted service.
This directive followed an application by five petitioners who argued that it was impracticable to serve the appeal process on Amewu in person. Consequently, the court ordered that the service be effected by posting the court documents on the court’s notice boards and at Amewu’s residence.
Petition
In December 2020, five residents from Santrokofi, Akpafu, Lolobi, and Likpe (SALL) filed a petition at the Ho High Court, seeking to nullify Amewu’s election. They contended that the exclusion of SALL residents from the election was unjust.
SALL voters were unable to participate in the 2020 parliamentary elections, leaving them without representation in the 8th Parliament, following the creation of the Oti Region from the Volta Region.
In July 2024, the Ho High Court dismissed the petition on the grounds of lack of jurisdiction. The court ruled that the petition challenged the constitutionality of Constitutional Instrument (CI) 128, the legal basis used by the Electoral Commission (EC) to conduct the 2020 parliamentary elections. As such, the case fell under the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court, not the High Court.
Following this decision, the five petitioners filed an appeal.
Supreme Court Decision
Prior to the High Court ruling, the Supreme Court in March 2021 overturned an order by the Ho High Court that had placed an injunction on Amewu.
In a unanimous ruling on January 5, 2021, a five-member panel of the Supreme Court held that the Ho High Court lacked jurisdiction to issue the injunction. The panel explained that the orders were in the nature of a parliamentary election petition, but the original case was a human rights matter, making it outside the High Court’s jurisdiction.
The Supreme Court further stated that the dispute arose from the EC’s decision to exclude SALL residents from voting in the 2020 parliamentary election. It questioned why Amewu, as an MP-elect, should suffer due to the EC’s actions.
“Mr. John Peter Amewu had no involvement in the exclusion of SALL residents from voting in the parliamentary election. He was not an agent of the EC but merely a candidate contesting in the election,” the court ruled.
The court emphasized that the five petitioners were contesting an alleged violation of their human rights by the EC, making Amewu’s involvement unnecessary in the legal battle.
Credit: Graphic Online.
