Oliver Barker-Vormawor is a private legal practitioner and activist
Pressure group Democracy Hub has filed a lawsuit at the High Court in Accra in a bid to halt the upcoming Ayawaso East parliamentary by-election.
The group argues that the process that produced the National Democratic Congress (NDC) candidate was tainted by vote-buying and inducement.
The suit, filed on Monday, February 16, 2026, by Oliver Barker-Vormawor on behalf of the group, names the National Democratic Congress (NDC), the Electoral Commission (EC) and the Attorney General’s Department as defendants.
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At the heart of the case is a request for an interlocutory injunction to stop the EC from conducting the March 3, 2026, by-election until the court determines whether the NDC’s parliamentary primaries complied with constitutional requirements.
Allegations of vote-buying and constitutional breach
In its statement of claim, Democracy Hub argues that the NDC’s Ayawaso East primaries was “characterised by widespread vote buying, inducement and monetisation,” which it says undermines democratic principles enshrined in Ghana’s 1992 Constitution.
According to the court filing, even the party’s own fact-finding committee acknowledged that the integrity of the process had been “fundamentally compromised,” raising serious constitutional questions.
The suit further argues that relying on the outcome of such a process breaches Article 55(5) of the constitution, which requires political parties to organise themselves in line with democratic principles.
Democracy Hub is, therefore, asking the court to temporarily suspend the by-election, warning that allowing it to go ahead could create legal consequences that cannot be undone.
“The impending conduct of the Ayawaso East Parliamentary by-election on the basis of a process that has been officially found to have been fundamentally compromised will set in motion a chain of constitutional events which cannot be reversed by a subsequent award of damages,” the filing stated.
The group further argued that once a candidate is elected and sworn into Parliament, any later court ruling would offer little practical remedy, making the case largely symbolic.
Questions raised about the EC’s role
The suit also raises concerns about the role of the Electoral Commission. While acknowledging that the EC does not supervise party primaries, the plaintiff argues that accepting a nomination that allegedly emerged from a flawed process carries constitutional implications.
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According to the filing, accepting such a nomination presents “a clear issue of illegality” and constitutional non-compliance.
Democracy Hub insists the case is not about partisan politics but about protecting constitutional order and democratic accountability.
According to the suit, “The action concerns the enforcement of constitutional requirements governing democratic participation, the lawful exercise of public power, and the integrity of the electoral process.”
The group maintains that financial compensation cannot fix constitutional violations and that only a court-ordered injunction can protect the integrity of the electoral process while the matter is being determined.
The High Court will now consider whether to grant the injunction and decide whether the nomination process that produced the NDC candidate meets constitutional standards before the by-election proceeds.
NA/AE
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