By Grace Q. Bryant
The Supreme Court has ordered the Board of the National Elections Commission to proceed with the certification of J. Alex Tyler as the winner of the 2023 Senatorial Election Bomi County.
The Supreme Court’s decision was based on the findings of the investigation into the electoral fraud filed against the NEC Board of Commissioners and Alex Tyler by Zonbon Coleman and Ernest Moriba, representatives of Senatorial Aspirant, Soko Adama Dorley, at the tallying center for Bomi County.
The court maintains that, having reviewed the records, heard the arguments and contentions advanced by the counsels representing the parties, and considered the relevant laws applicable thereto.
According to the full bench of the Supreme Court, Section 6.7 of the New Elections Law requires that the Bill of Exceptions be filed by the appellant with the Clerk of the Supreme Court within seven days after the decision of the Board of Commissioners (BOC) of the NEC, and a copy thereof served on the declared winner and the National Elections Commission through its Chairman.
The full bench furthered that the appellants (Coleman and Moriba), having failed to file the Bill of Exceptions with the Clerk of the Supreme Court within 7 days, and to serve the co-appellee, J. Alex Tyler, the declared winner, up to the hearing of the appeal before the Supreme Court, the appeal is dismissible.
“Furthermore, Section 6.1 of the New Elections Law states that any political party or candidate shall have the right to file a complaint in a contested election.
In this case, the appellants, Zonbon Coleman and Ernest Moriba, not being a political party or candidate(s), lack the capacity and standing to file the complaint without authorization from the candidate, Soko Adam Dorley, whom they claim to represent; hence, the appeal is dismissible,” the Supreme Court noted.
“Wherefore, and in view of the foregoing, the appeal is hereby dismissed. The Clerk of this Court is ordered to inform the National Elections Commission, accordingly, of J. Alex Tyler as the winner of the 2023 Senatorial Election in Bomi County. Costs are ruled against the appellants,” the court ruled.
In another development, the Supreme Court has affirmed the ruling of the Board of Commissioners of the National Elections Commission (NEC), in favor of Bong County 2023 Representative Winner, Prince Koinah.
Appellant Wamah Jone Kuteh, an Independent Representative candidate of District 1, Bong County, filed an appeal before the Full Bench against the National Elections Commission and winner Prince Koinah.
The court also ordered the National Elections Commission to proceed with the certification of Koinah as the winner of the Representative seat for District 1, Bong County.
According to the court, it is evidence alone which enables a court to pronounce with certainty the matter in dispute, and that the best evidence which a case admits of must always be produced, as no evidence is sufficient which presupposes the existence of better evidence. In the instant case, the records established that the appellant produced no iota of proof of election irregularities and fraud.
“That fraud is the employment of trick, artifice or deception to cheat or mislead another, and that it is not sufficient to merely allege fraud as a basis for relief, but it must be established by proof. In the instant case, the records further established that the appellant failed to prove fraud,” the court ruled.
