The Minority in Parliament has opposed a letter by Parliament formally notifying the Electoral Commission (EC) of the vacancy of the Kpandai constituency parliamentary seat in the Northern Region.

On Monday, December 8, the Clerk to Parliament, Ebenezer Ahumah Djietror, wrote to the Electoral Commission, Jean Mensa, following a High Court ruling ordering a re-run in the area.

The Tamale High Court declared the Kpandai parliamentary election conducted in 2024 invalid on Monday, November 24. As a result, His Lordship Emmanuel Brew Plange has directed the Electoral Commission (EC) to conduct a new poll in the constituency within 30 days.

But addressing the media on Tuesday, December 9, Minority Chief Whip Frank Annoh-Dompreh, noted “Mr Speaker, there is a letter that was sent into the house to declare the Kpandai seat vacant. That letter is out of place, unfortunate, and goes against the rule of law. We strongly submit that the letter must be withdrawn by Parliament. We in the minority will not agree to the writing of this letter”.

However, the candidate at the centre of the Kpandai election challenge, Matthew Nyindam, has disclosed that the 2024 parliamentary election in the area was conducted in a free and fair manner.

Despite the High Court directing a re-run of the election, Matthew Nyindam insisted that he and his team did not engage in any wrongdoing and are prepared to face the re-run.

Speaking to the media on Tuesday, December 9, he noted, “I am so fine because I am not troubled. We’ve not cheated in this particular election. What I’ve realised is that there is a government that is so strong and whatever they want to do, they will want to do it. They don’t care whether you are right or you are wrong.”

Earlier this year, the former Member of Parliament (MP) and National Democratic Congress (NDC) parliamentary candidate for Kpandai, Daniel Nsala Wakpal, submitted a petition to the Tamale High Court challenging the results of the 2024 parliamentary election in the constituency.

According to the petitioner, the Kpandai parliamentary election was marred by irregularities in the voting and collation processes. He argued that Pink Sheets from many polling stations were inaccurate or inconsistent.

He stated: “The parliamentary election held in the Kpandai constituency on 7th December 2024 was not conducted in compliance with Regulations 39 of the Public Elections Regulations, 2020 (CI 127) and the principles laid down by Regulations 39, and that the said non-compliance affected the results of the elections.

“The declaration and publication of the parliamentary election results held in the Kpandai constituency on 7th December 2024 were not made in compliance with Regulations 43 of the Public Elections Regulations, 2020 (C.I 127) and the principles laid down by Regulations 43, and that the said non-compliance affected the entire results of the parliamentary elections in the Kpandai constituency.”

But Matthew Nyindam has argued that, “The Parliamentary Election Petition filed by the 1st Interested Party on 25th January 2025, in respect of the Parliamentary Election held at the Kpandai Constituency on 7th December 2024, was invalid and could not have properly invoked the jurisdiction of the High Court, Commercial Division, Tamale.”

This will be the second time the country has had a re-run of elections after the 2024 general polls. Ablekuma North remained the only constituency in Ghana without a sitting MP due to unresolved disagreements over the outcome of the parliamentary vote.

The Electoral Commission on Friday, July 11, held a re-run election in 19 polling stations in Ablekuma North to provide constituents with a representative. Ewurabena Aubynn polled 34,090 votes to beat the New Patriotic Party's (NPP) Akua Afriyie, who secured 33,881 votes.

On December 10, 2024, three days after the national polls, the EC declared Ewurabena Aubynn of the NDC the winner of the Ablekuma North parliamentary seat, defeating the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) Nana Akua Owusu Afriyieh. However, the EC later revoked the announcement, revealing that results from 62 of the 281 polling stations had not been included in the initial collation.

Efforts to restart the collation in January 2025 were disrupted by multiple challenges. These included interruptions due to the submission of unverified Pink Sheets and a violent intrusion at the collation centre that heightened security concerns.

After extensive deliberations, the Electoral Commission in July announced that it would hold a re-run election because the 19 scanned polling station results used for the collation, though approved by agents of both political parties, were not verified by the presiding officers responsible for those polling stations.

The EC arrived at this decision after meeting with representatives of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP) on Tuesday, July 1.