Justice Richard Appietu has ruled that the People’s National Convention (PNC) showed a lack of diligence in filling out its nomination forms, leading to the dismissal of Bernard Mornah’s application to overturn the Electoral Commission’s decision to disqualify him from the 2024 presidential race.
Mornah argued that his disqualification violated his right to natural justice, claiming the Electoral Commission did not give him a fair opportunity to correct alleged errors in his forms. He noted that on September 13, the Commission notified him of discrepancies and requested corrections. However, despite resubmitting the forms, Mornah was disqualified due to unresolved errors. He contended that the disqualification letter, unlike the initial notification, failed to specify the remaining errors or offer another chance to fix them.
Mornah further argued that the Commission’s actions infringed on his political rights and his right to be heard, calling it a breach of administrative justice.
The Electoral Commission countered that Mornah did not fully address the identified issues, some of which were of a criminal nature. These included the absence of a signature from one John Arthur and the use of the same signature for four different endorsers, raising suspicions of fraud.
In his ruling, Justice Appietu concluded that Mornah’s right to be heard had not been violated. The court found that Mornah had been informed of the errors on September 13, 2024, and given the chance to correct them. The judge noted that although the disqualification letter did not list the specific errors, they were related to those previously communicated.
Justice Appietu further stated that Mornah had effectively waived his right to a second hearing by failing to correct the errors, likening the situation to being notified of a hearing and choosing not to attend, thereby forfeiting the right to be heard.
The judge emphasized that both Mornah and the PNC should have exercised greater care in completing the forms. Given the PNC’s long-standing participation in the electoral process since 1992, they were expected to avoid such errors.
Citing the Electoral Commission’s claim that Mornah’s forms included four identical signatures for different individuals, which raised fraud concerns, Justice Appietu denied the request for a judicial review, invoking the legal principle that “he who comes to equity must come with clean hands.”
