Court summons Zanetor Rawlings

• Posted on January 15, 2016
• by Nana Kwesi Coomson
• Comment

An Accra high court has ordered the chairperson of the Electoral commission (EC), Charlotte Osei, to produce the biometric voter registration records of Dr. Zanetor Agyeman-rawlings.

Lawyers for the plaintiffs – Joseph Botchway and two others – want the court to compel the electoral body to furnish it with the final voter register showing the name of the third defendant – Zanetor.

Prior to the court action, rumours were rife that Dr. Zanetor, daughter of former President Jerry John Rawlings – who is contesting the Klottey Korle constituency parliamentary seat on the ticket of the National Democratic congress (NDC) in the Greater Accra Region – does not have her name in the voter register which was compiled by the Electoral Commission for the 2012 general election.

The order, directed at the NDC and the EC as first and second respondents respectively, among other things, wants the EC to answer whether or not Dr. Zanetor is a registered voter.
The lawyers – from the Chambers of Sarfo and Marfo at Law – also request that the EC provides information on when her (Zanetor’s) name was entered on the National Biometric Voter Register; the name of the registration officer; date of registration; the time at which the name was entered on the roll as shown on the printout; the registration centre name and code.
The 19-point questions also want the EC boss to specifically tell the court the constituency in which the registration took place; the voter Identity Card Number of Dr. Zanetor; biometric finger printout; the type of identification document used in the registration process and whether or not the defendant’s name had been publicly exhibited on any provisional voter register.
The plaintiffs are further asking the court to compel the EC to make available a copy of the said provisional voter register and to explain if the registration was during the limited (registration) period in 2014.
The court has as well ordered the EC to provide a copy of the voter registration identification guarantee form and copies of the registration team detailed on Form 2A.

By Jeffrey De-Graft Johnson