The Electoral Commission has been ordered by a Human Rights Court in Accra to allow Ghanaian citizens living abroad partake in national elections starting from Election 2020.
The EC has also been compelled by the court presided over by Justice Anthony Yeboah to within 12 months ensure the implementation of the directive.
The court upheld arguments by 5 Ghanaians based abroad that the EC has caused an infringement of their human rights by failing to implement the law.
The Representation of the People Amendment Act 2006, (Act 699) was passed into law 11 years ago, during the Kufuor Administration, but has since not been implemented.
The court in its judgement said the Electoral Commission has no justifiable reason not to carry out the dictates of a law that binds them. The court added the EC’s justification for the delay in implementing is unreasonable and outrageous.
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The applicants who are all members of the Progressive Alliance Movement (PAM) – a New York State incorporated nonprofit organization, were seeking “a Declaration that Applicants have fundamental human rights under Articles 17(2), 42 and 33(5), of the 1992 Constitution of the Republic of Ghana, the Representation of the People (Amendment) Act 2006 [Act 699] Article 13 of the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights, Article 25 of The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Article 21 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Protocol 1 (article 3) of the European Convention on Human Rights.
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