The Speaker of Parliament, Mr Alban Kingsford Sumana Bagbin, has ruled that the Kpandai Constituency seat cannot be declared vacant despite a Tamale High Court order for a rerun of the 2024 parliamentary election.
Addressing the House on the matter, Mr Bagbin explained that the High Court’s decision could not take immediate effect because the law provided for a mandatory seven-day stay of execution for all appealable High Court rulings.
He noted that, for this reason, declaring the Kpandai seat vacant at this stage would be premature.
He indicated that, “The effect of the order, to my understanding, is that the EC is to conduct a rerun election within 30 days, implying that the original declaration of Mr Matthew Nyindam as winner is invalid and is no longer an MP.”
Mr Bagbin continued that, “I however bring to the attention of the House the provisions of the Court of Appeal Rules, 1997 (C.I. 19), as amended by C.I. 132, rule 27 (3). It provides that there shall be a stay of execution of the judgment or decision appealed against for a period of seven days immediately following the giving of notice of the judgment or decision.”
He stressed that this rule was mandatory and applied to every High Court decision capable of appeal. He referred to the Supreme Court’s decision in the case of Mensah v GBC (2005–2006), which held that any stay of execution before the expiry of the seven-day window was premature.
Mr Bagbin noted that the seven-day period during which Mr Nyindam continued to be regarded as an MP remained in force until December 1, 2025. Consequently, he noted that the High Court ruling “cannot form the basis for the Speaker to instruct the Clerk to notify the EC that the Kpandai seat is vacant.”
“It is, therefore, too premature to say that Mr Matthew Nyindam is disqualified from entering the Chamber and participating in the activities of the House because this period stays within the seven-day mandatory stay of execution of the High Court order,” he elaborated.
BY BENJAMIN ARCTON-TETTEY
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