Ghana’s Supreme Court restores ruling party’s parliamentary majority ahead of Dec. 7 election

ACCRA, Ghana — Ghana’s Supreme Court restored the ruling party’s majority in the parliament on Tuesday ahead of the Dec. 7 election, with an order that the speaker’s declaration of four seats as vacant was unconstitutional.

Last month, two members of parliament from the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) and one from the biggest opposition party, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) announced that they would run as independent candidates in the election, while an independent candidate joined the NPP.

The Speaker of the Parliament Alban Bagbin declared their seats vacant, arguing that the constitution does not allow MPs to defect. The parliament was indefinitely adjourned after the declaration.

Bagbin’s decision had shifted the parliamentary majority to the NDC, giving it one seat more than the outgoing President Nana Akufo-Addo’s NPP’s 135.

The Supreme Court’s ruling restores the ruling NPPs slim majority of 138 seats, including one independent who leans towards the NPP, against 137 for the opposition NDC.

Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo announced the court’s majority decision of 5:2 in a televised ruling, adding that it will file the reasons behind its decision later.

The presidential and parliamentary elections in Ghana will be held concurrently on Dec. 7. It will be the ninth consecutive general election since the country’s return to multi-party democracy in 1992.

Ghana has held peaceful, free and fair elections for nearly two decades but allegations of voter roll irregularities this year have created concerns about a possible democratic backslide.

In September, the NDC held nationwide protests demanding an audit of the voter roll, alleging it detected thousands of unauthorized transfers and erasures of voter names.

President Akufo-Addo is stepping down this year after his second and final four-year term. Former President John Dramani Mahama of the NDC, who lost in the 2016 and 2020 elections, will face off with Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia of the NPP in this year’s election.

Last month, tensions surrounding the elections led the U.S. State Department to issue a warning that it would restrict U.S. visas for people who undermine Ghana’s democracy ahead of the vote.