Former Vice President and New Patriotic Party (NPP) flagbearer hopeful Dr Mahamudu Bawumia has accused the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government of rushing the Kpandai parliamentary rerun in a manner that threatens the integrity of Ghana’s democratic institutions.
The Electoral Commission has scheduled a rerun in the Kpandai constituency for December 30, 2025, after a Tamale High Court annulled the election of NPP’s Matthew Nyindam and Parliament subsequently declared the seat vacant.
Reacting to the development, Dr Bawumia described the pace of events as “an indecent haste” that departs from established democratic norms in Ghana.
He noted that the situation involving Matthew Nyindam is not new and cited past cases involving Dan Abodakpi and James Gyakye Quayson, where Parliament and state institutions allowed all legal processes, including appeals, to be fully exhausted before declaring seats vacant or proceeding with by-elections.
Dr Bawumia stated that Mr Nyindam has already filed both an appeal and an application for judicial review, both of which are pending.
He argued that moving ahead with the rerun while these legal challenges are ongoing would amount to “railroading” the former MP and undermining the judicial process.
“I think this undermines our institutions of democracy,” Dr Bawumia said. “We should take a halt to these processes and allow him to have his day in court, just as others have been allowed in the past.”
He further observed that Parliament “has never rushed in this way when it came to cases involving other parties.”
The former Vice President and NPP flagbearer hopeful urged state institutions to apply the same standards consistently to all political actors, warning that any perceived selective treatment risks weakening Ghana’s democracy.