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The Sekondi High Court has dismissed the petition action against the election of Jomoro MP, Hon. Dorcas Affo-Toffey.
The Court determined that she was qualified to run in the 2020 parliamentary elections.
The MP lost her Ivorian citizenship at the same same moment that she obtained her Ghanaian citizenship, the judge, Justice Dr. Richmond Osei Hwere, declared in his judgement.
A constituent, Mr. Joshua Emuah Kofie, questioned the MP’s right to run as a representative of the constituency’s residents.
He claims that the MP is in violation of the 1992 Constitution by possessing several nationalities, including those of the United States and Ivory Coast.
The MP, however, asserted that she had relinquished her Ivorian citizenship and denied having an American citizenship.
Before the MP filed to run for office as a member of parliament in 2020, the applicant asked the court to issue an order directing an inspection of the documents to determine whether the MP had in fact renounced her Ivorian citizenship.
The Court subsequently ordered Dorcas Affo-Toffey to provide documentation supporting her alleged renunciation of Ivorian citizenship, but she did not comply.
In response, the applicant filed a contempt complaint against her for failing to deliver the required paperwork.
The MP’s attorney, Godwin Edudzi Tamakloe, begged the court to dismiss the contempt case and begged for mercy, stating that his client had no intention of disobeying the court’s orders.
The lawyer for the petitioner, Bright Okyere Agyekum asked the Court to award a cost of GHC20,000 against the MP for disobeying its orders and wasting their time before striking out the case of contempt.
The Court presided by Justice Sedinam Agbemava subsequently struck out the case and awarded a cost of GHC5,000 against the MP after her lawyer pleaded his client could not afford the amount requested by the petitioner’s lawyer, noting that “things are hard.”
NKONKONSA.com
