Court injuncts GNAT national elections over alleged constitutional breaches

A scheduled National Officers’ Election of the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), planned for 7 January 2026, has been put on hold after the court granted an interlocutory injunction in a suit filed by a presidential aspirant, Mr. Charles Kwabena Amponsah of Asare Bediako SHS.

Mr. Amponsah, who is contesting for GNAT National President, is attacking the legitimacy of the entire electoral pipeline, making the following key allegations:
 

He claims there are widespread irregularities in the compilation of the delegates’ register, which will be used for the national polls.
 

He argues that the current regional leadership structure is built on district and regional conferences that did not comply with GNAT’s own constitution.
 

He specifically cites the 2025 Adansi West District Conference as having breached constitutional procedures for electing delegates.
 

According to him, this defect has cascaded from district conferences to the Ashanti Regional Conference and now to the National Conference and elections.
 

He alleges that some persons who took part in the Ashanti Regional Conference, and are expected to vote at the national level, were not properly elected by their district conferences but were hand-picked by regional executives, which he says is unconstitutional.

Alleged bias and advantage in favour of a rival
He directly points to Ashanti Regional Chairman, Mr. Prosper Tachie (also a national presidential aspirant), accusing him of supervising a process that favours certain candidates and undermines a level playing field.
He also attacks the GNAT Elections Committee, alleging procedural failures that, in his view, compromise credibility, transparency, and fairness of the whole exercise.

On the strength of these allegations, the court:

Granted an interlocutory injunction, effectively suspending the 7 January 2026 GNAT national elections.

Adjourned the case to 15 January 2026 for further proceedings.

Service status:

The writ and processes were served on GNAT at its national headquarters on 29 December 2025 and received by Mr. Simon Naaqer of the Registry.

Other named defendants –

Rev. Isaac Owusu (National President)

Thomas Musah (General Secretary)

Mr. Mahmoud Issah Zakary (Chair, GNAT Elections Committee) –
were reportedly not present at the office at the time and could not immediately be served.

From a governance and risk perspective, the injunction creates several pressure points:
Any national officers elected under a process later declared unconstitutional would face a serious legitimacy cloud. The injunction pre-empts that scenario by freezing the status quo.
The case is effectively a stress test of GNAT’s internal constitutional compliance – particularly:

the delegate-election architecture from district to regional to national level, and

the role of regional executives in selecting or influencing delegates.
The litigation illustrates how individual members and aspirants can leverage the courts to shape internal electoral governance where they perceive structural unfairness.

Prolonged litigation may delay leadership renewal and distract the union’s focus from bread-and-butter negotiations with government.

Conversely, a clear judicial outcome could strengthen GNAT’s institutional credibility if it leads to transparent, constitution-compliant electoral reforms.

In simple terms: until the court resolves these central questions on delegates, internal procedures, and constitutional compliance, GNAT’s national elections are in a holding pattern, and the eventual ruling is likely to become a reference point for internal union governance across the education sector.