Minority demands immediate withdrawal of letter declaring Kpandai seat vacant

Maxwell Nyagamago 15:19 - 09 December 2025

Minority caucus

The Minority Caucus in Parliament has demanding the immediate withdrawal of a letter that formally declared the Kpandai parliamentary seat vacant, following a High Court order for a rerun of the constituency’s election.

Parliament had on Monday, 8 December 2025, officially notified the Electoral Commission (EC) of the vacancy. The notification was issued after the High Court in Tamale directed that a fresh election be held in the Kpandai Constituency.

The letter, dated 4 December 2025 and addressed to the EC Chairperson, Jean Mensa, was signed by the Clerk to Parliament, Ebenezer Ahumah Djietror. His action was taken in accordance with Article 112(5) of the 1992 Constitution, which obliges the Clerk to notify the EC when a parliamentary seat becomes vacant.

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According to the correspondence, the vacancy arose from the High Court’s ruling delivered on 24 November 2025 in Suit Number NR/TL/HC/E13/22/25, in which the Clerk to Parliament was listed as the fourth respondent. The ruling ordered the EC to conduct a rerun to determine the legitimate representative of the Kpandai Constituency.

Responding to the development on Tuesday, 9 December 2025, Minority Chief Whip Frank Annoh-Dompreh described the Clerk’s letter as “unfortunate.” He argues that it breached established legal and parliamentary procedures.

He stressed the need for adherence to constitutional processes, stating:

Speaker, we must do better and this House must do better, and we must act better. Let us commit ourselves to principled leadership, to procedural fidelity and to the understanding that this House is a guardian, not a manipulator, of the law.

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Emphasising the importance of consistency in parliamentary practice, he added:

Legitimacy of Parliament depends on our consistency, and we cannot do otherwise. Consistency depends on our willingness to obey not our political impulses but the clear details of the law.

He therefore urged Parliament to retract the letter sent to the EC, stating:

Speaker, we strongly submit that the letter that was sent to the Electoral Commission was out of place. It was unfortunate and flies in the face of law and procedural justice. We submit strongly to this House that the letter must be withdrawn forthwith, and we must remain consistent with the pronouncements of the Speaker on this matter.