The Judicial Board of the University of Ghana Students’ Representative Council (UGSRC) has upheld the disqualification of presidential candidates Maradona Adjei Yeboah, popularly known as Guru, and Lawrence Edinam Egleh, in a closely contested 3-2 ruling.

The decision, delivered by a panel of five justices, has raised eyebrows among students due to the sudden replacement of Justice Margeret JSC with Justice Tamekloe JSC before the final verdict.

Chief Justice Margaret, who has been replaced, expressed her decision to step back from the matter, citing unexpected developments that influenced her decision to back away.

In a conversation with Univers News, she said, "The matter took an unexpected turn, and I no longer wanted to be involved. I do not want to discuss the details."

The panel, originally presided over by Chief Justice Anthony Julius and four other justices, saw a 2:2 split among the remaining judges before the sudden introduction of a new, unidentified judge.

This judge was not present as a judge during the hearings when the arguments were made, yet ultimately broke the deadlock by ruling in favor of upholding the disqualification. This last-minute change has sparked debate, with students raising concerns about the transparency and fairness of the Judicial Board’s proceedings.

Guru and Egleh, both non-resident students, were disqualified by the UGSRC Electoral Commission (EC) based on their failure to meet the requirements of Article 30(1)(a) of the SRC Constitution.

The article mandates that candidates must be qualified under their hall’s constitution to contest for executive office. Both candidates challenged their disqualification, arguing that the Commission’s interpretation of the article was unconstitutional and discriminatory, particularly against non-resident students.

• Read also: Guru disqualified from University of Ghana SRC presidential race 

Delivering the majority decision, Justice Omani-Mensah ruled that the EC’s action was in accordance with the SRC Constitution. He said that the SRC functions as a federation of halls, and candidates must meet the qualifications set by their respective halls to be eligible to run for office. The majority decision further stated that the disqualification was neither unconstitutional nor discriminatory, aligning with the framers’ intent of the constitution.

However, two justices dissented, supporting Guru and Egleh’s argument that non-resident students should be able to contest for SRC executive positions without being bound by hall-specific requirements. They argued that excluding non-residents undermines the inclusivity of the SRC’s leadership process.

The Judicial Board’s ruling has paved the way for the Electoral Commission to resume the electoral process within the next week, with both Guru and Egleh remaining disqualified.

The ruling of the judicial board comes after the board was allegedly directed by the office of the Pro vice chancellor in charge of academic and student affairs to halt all proceedings for office of the dean of student affairs to take over.

Now, according to sources available to Radio Univers, an appeals board has been instituted to hear the case again on Monday, 16 September 2024. The Committee is instructed to hear the case and provide ruling on the same day.