Bernard Mornah’s chances of securing a spot on the 2024 ballot as a presidential candidate for the People’s National Convention (PNC) diminished further when the High Court last Monday upheld the Electoral Commission’s (EC) decision to disqualify him from the race.
This comes after the General Jurisdiction (11) division of the High Court, presided over by Justice Richard Apietu, ruled that contrary to the allegation that the EC failed to specify the reasons for his disqualification and did not give (Mornah) an opportunity to rectify the alleged mistakes in his nomination forms, evidence on record proved otherwise.
Specifically, the judge relied on a letter from the EC dated September 13, 2024, which outlined several anomalies in Mornah’s nomination form, including alleged forged signatures and incorrect voter identification numbers. The said letter, the EC gave Mr Mornah the opportunity to correct the anomalies, which he did and submitted on the same day. Both the aspirant’s and the EC’s lawyers conceded this.
Justice Apietu believed that once the EC notified Mornah of the anomalies, he (Mr Mornah) should have been more meticulous in correcting same when the first opportunity was given to him. Mr Mornah was praying the High Court to overturn his disqualification from the race.
On September 20, the EC cleared 13 aspirants to contest the 2024 Presidential election and disqualified 11. Mr Monarh was one of the aspirants disqualified by the Commission leading to the legal action.