The film, which will be told in four parts, chronicles the period from the submission of the petition in 2013 by then presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Akufo-Addo, his running-mate, Mahamudu Bawumia and Chairman of the NPP at the time, Jake Obetsebi Lamptey, to the final declaration by the Supreme Court.

The documentary, produced SOAS and SPURS and directed by award winning journalist and political historian, Paul Adom Otchere is titled ‘The Election Petition’ and will also feature a brief look at the history of elections in the country prior to the 2012 polls as well as the petition’s impact on the conduct and outcome of elections in 2016.

Two Justices of the Supreme Court, Williams Atuguba and Jones Dotse offer their insights into the Supreme Court’s consideration of the petition, the ensuing case and their final verdict.

Tsatsu Tsikata and Philip Addison, the lawyers for the first defendants and the complainants respectively, also shared their thoughts on the entire case with Moses Foh Amoaning and Prof Audrey Gadzekpo providing some expert views as well.

There is exclusive footage from the reactions to the phone call made by then President John Dramani Mahama conceding the 2016 elections to Nana Addo, as well as the Electoral Commission’s official declaration of the results.

There is also some input from Deputy Attorney General, Godfred Dame on the legal and political history of the first petitioner in the case, Nana Akufo-Addo while lawyer, Phyllis Christian, highlights other social dimensions which factored into the petition.

Watch trailer below

‘Highest test to our democracy’

The producers felt it was imperative to tell Ghana’s political stories after seeing a documentary on the elections in 2008, which was made by a British journalist.

This contributed to the production of two other features in the last two years including one detailing the history of Ghana as part of the country’s 60^th Anniversary celebrations last year.

According to them, given the significance of the petition in 2013 to the country’s democratic credentials in light of electoral disputes in other countries on the continent, the story needed to be told.

“The decision, the live coverage and the concession became the new and the most important pillar of the 25-year 4^th Republican dispensation. The single denominator that differentiates democratic and stable countries is election or disputed elections, most of modern civil wars in Africa and elsewhere has occurred out of disputed elections.”

The President of the Republic, Nana Akufo-Addo is expected to grace the event on Wedndesday.

For free tickets to the premiere text or WhatsApp 0277246658. 

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By:  citifmonline.com/Ghana

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His visit will see him tour some 11 constituencies in the southern belt of the Western Region.

On Friday November 4, Nana Addo started his tour with a radio interview at Skyy Power Fm in Takoradi. During the interaction, Nana Addo pledged that, his government will support the private sector to facilitate job creation.

“We will also revamp the railway sector to facilitate growth and to relocate the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation, GNPC headquarters to the Western Region.”

He also reinstated his commitment to create the Western North Region when voted into office.

Nana Addo and his entourage then left Takoradi for the Mpohor Constituency. At Mpohor, Nana Addo visited the Omanhene of the Mpohor Traditional Area, Osabarima Kow Enstei II.

He promised the chiefs and people of an equal distribution of development across the country, in a Nana Addo led government when voted into office come December 7.

He also took the opportunity to unveil a plaque in honour of Mr. Stephen Okraku; a founding Member of the NPP in the western region on a three-storey building community complex yet to be completed. He proceeded to lay a wrath on the tomb of Mr. Okraku.

Nana Addo was welcomed by a mammoth rally at Ateiku in the Wassa East Constituency, after addressing a similar gathering at Mpohor.

At Ateiku, he reiterated his commitment to strengthen the NHIS, and to fulfill his promise of the free senior high school, one district one factory, and a pledge to revive the cocoa sector.

He finally introduced the Wassa East parliamentary candidate for the NPP, Wilson Arthur, who’s the CEO of Skyypower FM, to the constituents, and asked them to vote for him.

He left the Wassa East for Shama constituency.

At Shama, Nana Addo spoke of ensuring a hustle free acquisition of fishing inputs.

“President Kuffour did it for fishermen. Apart from the inputs, we will construct a fish processing plant here at Abuesi as part of the One District One Factory policy of the NPP”.

He called on the constituents in Shama, to vote him and the NPPs parliamentary candidate Ato Panford.

Nana Addo ended his day one tour at the Takoradi Polytechnic where he addressed students of the polytechnic.

Day 2 of Nana Addo’s visit will be in the Ahanta West, Kwesimintsim, Effia, Takoradi, Sekondi and the Essikadu/Ketan constituencies.

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By: Obrempong Yaw Ampofo/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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Razak Opoku, General Secretary of the APC in an interview with Citi News, said the APC as part of its plans for the country if voted into power will draw a policy on price control and a policy on education where “Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) would be inculcated into our educational curriculum.”

He said the Mahama-led government and the New Patriotic Party (NPP) have done little to improve the standard of education in country.

“What John Mahama been doing is building community senior high schools. That is the only contribution he has done to education, the NPP only promised free SHS but the educational curriculum itself, they never talk about it. We are thinking about the educational curriculum, making sure that the STEM take centre-stage in our educational curriculum.”

‘Manifesto launch’

The has set Thursday, October 6 as the date for its election 2016 manifesto launch.

The party, which had earlier planned to hold the launch in Tamale have moved the venue to Accra.

Razak Opoku, the General Secretary of the party, in an interview with Citi News said, the change was a “strategic” move to get more party supports attend the event.

He said, “the campaign launch has been moved from Paga [Upper East region] to Accra. We expect people, bigger than what the NPP will gather at the Trade Fair on Sunday. We are going to make sure that the Thursday campaign launch will take the shine out of the NPP’s manifesto launch on Sunday so we will see a massive crowd.”

‘APC submits nomination forms’

The All Progressive Party last week filed its nomination forms to contest in the upcoming general elections last week although it raised concerns over the high filing fees set by the Electoral Commission of Ghana.

The party’s flag bearer, Hassan Ayariga recently selected a businessman, Emmanuel Carl Bartels as his running mate for the upcoming elections.

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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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Exactly three years ago, on August, 29, 2013, the apex court delivered a 5-4 majority judgement that brought an end to the election petition filed by late Otanka Obetsebi-Lamptey, Nana Akufo-Addo and his running mate Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia.

The three had challenged the validity of the results of the 2012 presidential election and the legitimacy of President John Dramani Mahama, because according to them, the polls had been riddled with electoral irregularities.

However, the highest court of the nation in the majority decision rejected the petition and declared President Mahama validly elected.

In a statement to mark three years of the judgment, Nana Akufo-Addo said “The message from the majority on the Court was clear, and to the effect that, regardless of the infractions or irregularities that might happen on Election Day, what happens at the polling station is sacred and results declared there will not be reversed. We, in the NPP, have taken that message to heart.”

Below is the full statement:

STATEMENT BY NANA ADDO DANKWA AKUFO-ADDO, 2016 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE OF THE NEW PATRIOTIC PARTY, ON THE OCCASION OF THE THIRD ANNIVERSARY OF THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION PETITION.

Exactly three years ago, on August, 29, 2013, the Supreme Court, the highest court of our nation, delivered a 5-4 majority judgement that brought an end to the election petition that the late Otanka Obetsebi-Lamptey, Mahamudu Bawumia and I had filed in the court, challenging the validity of the results of the 2012 presidential election. The majority decision rejected our challenge.

After proceedings that lasted eight months, Ghana came out with her democratic credentials enhanced. We proved to the world that we were willing and able to submerge our individual and partisan preferences for the common good. We demonstrated clearly that it was not the ambitions of Akufo-Addo, nor the fortunes of the NPP, that we sought to promote. The stability and progress of Ghana and the enhancement of her democracy were the paramount considerations that guided our every action in those difficult days.

I said,on the day the judgement was delivered, that everything in my bones, in the way I was brought up and in how I have conducted my life thus far, made it imperative that I accept a decision of the highest court of our land, even though I might disagree with it. I thank the Lord that He gave me that inner strength to display the leadership when required.

The message from the majority on the Court was clear, and to the effect that, regardless of the infractions or irregularities that might happen on Election Day, what happens at the polling station is sacred and results declared there will not be reversed. We, in the NPP, have taken that message to heart.

However, it must be pointed out that the sanctity of the ballot is and must be supreme. It is the expression of preference involved in the casting of the ballot that is sacred – the rest of the activities are, at best, administrative exercises. The count, the collation, the transmission and the declaration of results cannot and should not be more important than the sacred, God-given right of a citizen expressing his or her choice represented by the casting of his or her ballot.

The strength of any democracy is very much determined by the credibility of its electoral system. It is in our collective interest that we ensure that the rules and regulations for the conduct of elections are fair and transparent, and that we all develop respect for them. There should be no lingering questions about the legitimacy of an election, and the winning candidate at the end of the process should receive the unalloyed support of all. That is how we can strengthen our democracy and the peace and stability of our nation.

With three months to the holding of the December 2016 election, our economy is in crisis, businesses are collapsing, the cost of living is unbearably high for the ordinary person, our youth remain without employment, our children are failing in their examinations, cash and carry is effectively back in our hospitals, and we are experiencing strikes all over. God did not put us on this rich land to be poor. It is bad leadership that makes us poor.

I believe I can, in all humility, provide, with God’s guidance and the assistance of a capable team, the leadership that is needed to return Ghana onto the path of progress and prosperity, were the Ghanaian people to entrust me with their mandate. I am appealing to Ghanaians to repose their confidence in me in December, and together we shall make the Black Star of Africa rise and shine again.

The battle is still the Lord’s!

God bless our democracy! God bless Ghana! God bless Mother Africa!

……signed……

Nana Akufo-Addo

2016 NPP Presidential Candidate

_

By: Awudu Mahama/ghelections.com/Ghana

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“While I disagree with the court’s decision, I accept it. I accept that what the court says brings a finality to the election dispute. We shall not be asking for a review of the verdict, so we can all move on in the interest of our nation,” he told reporters at his Nima residence in Accra yesterday.

Earlier, he had called President John Mahama on phone and congratulated him minutes after the Supreme Court had pronounced its judgement.

He also urged Ghanaians to put the dispute behind them, unite, iron out their differences, ease the tension among them and “come together and work to find solutions to the challenges that confront our people”.

Wearing a grey suit over a white shirt and a blue tie, Nana Akufo-Addo, who was the first petitioner in the case, told journalists that the judgement of the Supreme Court should bring the election petition to an end.

Surrounded by party leaders, including Mr Jake Otanka Obetsebi-Lamptey, the third petitioner, and Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, the second petitioner, he told journalists: “Everything in my bones, in my upbringing and in what I have done with my life thus far makes it imperative that I accept a decision made by the highest court of the land, however much I dislike or disagree with it.”

Reading from a prepared speech, Nana Akufo-Addo said he was saddened by the judgement and “I know that many of our supporters are saddened too”.

He stressed that for the sake and love of Ghana, all must join hands to embark on a move “that builds, rather than destroys, to deal with our disappointment”.

He made a passionate appeal to all members and supporters of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) to accept the verdict of the court, adding that even in their disappointment, they could take pride in the way they had conducted themselves.

“Even in our disappointment, we can take pride that the NPP has again led the way in deepening Ghana’s democracy,” he stated, and quoted one of the Supreme Court judges who said, “After this case, elections in Ghana will not be the same.”

Nana Akufo-Addo said although the petitioners did not get the ruling they wanted, thanks to their efforts they could hopefully look forward to an improved electoral process in the country.

He recounted that since independence, the petition was the maiden presidential election petition which had been filed and pursued through the courts and cautioned Ghanaians that “the whole world has watched us in wonder and admiration. Our reaction to this judgement will be watched keenly in Africa and beyond and will set a precedent for generations to follow”.

On his future political career, Nana Akufo-Addo, who contested the 2008 and 2012 elections as the flag bearer of the NPP, said he would take some time off the hurly burly of politics, get some rest, reflect and later announce his decision.

He paid glowing tribute to his lawyers, researchers, party executives and his wife and daughters for their support in various forms.

He called on Ghanaians to wish President Mahama well and thank the Almighty God for His mercies on Ghana, while still repeating the NPP petition slogan: “The battle continues to be that of the Lord’s.”

He made a passionate appeal to all members and supporters of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) to accept the verdict of the court, adding that even in their disappointment, they could take pride in the way they had conducted themselves.

“Even in our disappointment, we can take pride that the NPP has again led the way in deepening Ghana’s democracy,” he stated, and quoted one of the Supreme Court judges who said, “After this case, elections in Ghana will not be the same.”

Nana Akufo-Addo said although the petitioners did not get the ruling they wanted, thanks to their efforts they could hopefully look forward to an improved electoral process in the country.

He recounted that since independence, the petition was the maiden presidential election petition which had been filed and pursued through the courts and cautioned Ghanaians that “the whole world has watched us in wonder and admiration. Our reaction to this judgement will be watched keenly in Africa and beyond and will set a precedent for generations to follow”.

On his future political career, Nana Akufo-Addo, who contested the 2008 and 2012 elections as the flag bearer of the NPP, said he would take some time off the hurly burly of politics, get some rest, reflect and later announce his decision.

He paid glowing tribute to his lawyers, researchers, party executives and his wife and daughters for their support in various forms.

He called on Ghanaians to wish President Mahama well and thank the Almighty God for His mercies on Ghana, while still repeating the NPP petition slogan: “The battle continues to be that of the Lord’s.”

–

Source: Graphic Online

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He said the SC’s recommendations were bereft of legal authority, and indicated that the recommendations “are analogous to non-binding advice”.

Delivering a paper in Accra yesterday at a public forum on the status of the Supreme Court’s recommendations for electoral reforms, Prof. Prempeh said, “Those recommendations cannot compel the EC to do those things that have been recommended.”

He expressed doubt that the EC would implement the reforms based on the recommendations.

“With the EC such as we have, you need more than recommendations to get it to act,” Prof. Prempeh said.

Jointly organised by Imani Ghana and OCCUPYGHANA, the forum sought to solicit views on the way forward regarding the SC’s recommendations for electoral reforms.

It was attended by people in the academia, legal practitioners, political leaders, members of civil society organisations, representatives of donor partners and students.

Yesterday marked one year of the Supreme Court judgement on the election petition.

Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, the 2012 presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP); his running mate, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, and then Chairman of the party, Mr Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey, had asked the court to overturn the results that the EC used in declaring the candidate of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), President John Dramani Mahama, winner.

The SC judgement upheld the validity of the election of President Mahama in the 2012 election.

No clarity in SC recommendations

But Prof. Prempeh, who teaches constitutional law at the Seton Hall University Law School in the United States of America, said when a court needed to compel a subject to take or refrain from taking certain actions, it proceeded by way of an order addressed to that party but not recommendations.

He indicated that there was no clarity and certainty in the recommendations of the SC on electoral reforms regarding how elections must be conducted and how to mount a successful challenge in court in the event of a disputed election.

Prof. Prempeh said the judgement of the SC functioned as law.

Therefore, he said, a court judgement must provide sufficient guidance and clarity so that parties would know how to conduct their affairs if faced with a similar situation in the future.

The law professor said the parties must be able to discern from the judgement, perhaps with the assistance of counsel, what things they might do or not do next time in an election.

“Viewed in terms of its function as law in the forward-looking sense, the majority judgement in the 2012 election petition case is regrettably of dubious value,” he said.

Lingering issues

Prof. Prempeh said it was not clear from the recommendations whether presiding officers were bound to sign the pink sheets.

Besides, he said, it was not clear what a petitioner should present in order to be successful in an election petition.

Again, he said, the permissible remedies that the SC could direct, such as recount or revoting, were not clear.

Prof. Prempeh said the recommendations had created more uncertainty about the legal standards for conducting valid presidential elections and successfully challenging the validity of the declared results.

“Such uncertainties as well as the lingering perception following the 2012 election petition that a judicial challenge for an election petition has rather poor prospects does not augur well for a peaceful conduct of elections in Ghana.

“Unfortunately, these are the questions that the Supreme Court majority judgement in the 2012 election petition case failed to answer. Instead, the judgement of the majority in that case has left us with more questions than answers,” he said.

Recommendations

Prof. Prempeh recommended that elections should be conducted in October or early November instead of in December.

That, he said, would enable the SC to reach a final determination of an election petition before the swearing in of a President.

Prof. Prempeh said after the swearing in of a president, questions as to whether s/he was validly elected becomes a political question instead of a legal issue.

Therefore, he said, the expectation that judges sitting on such a case would approach the case purely as jurists concerned with only the law was fanciful.

On the election of the Chairman of the EC, the constitutional lawyer proposed that the process for the selection of the EC boss should be open for discussion with other political parties instead of limiting it to the President and Members of the Council of State.

He charged the EC to come up with a road map to ensure that Ghanaians abroad exercise their franchise.

Prof. Prempeh suggested that the EC must be compelled to publish the voters register ahead of the election to ensure the integrity of the register.

He was of the view that constituency demarcations should not be arbitrary, and indicated that “creating new constituencies when districts are created is wrong”.

On abuse of incumbency, Prof. Prempeh said the law that allowed the President to have a fund for unspecified use must be relooked at to avoid abuse of the fund.

–

Source: Graphic Online

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The following is how they captured the judgement of the Supreme Court yesterday:

BBC

According to the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), Ghana’s Supreme Court dismissed the petition by the opposition to annul President John Mahama’s narrow victory in last year’s disputed election.

The New Patriotic Party (NPP) had alleged that there were irregularities which inured to the benefit of Mr Mahama, a charge his National Democratic Congress (NDC) denied.

NPP leader Nana Akufo-Addo told the BBC he was disappointed but accepted the verdict and urged his supporters to do likewise.

Ghana is generally seen as a beacon of democracy in the region.

The case was broadcast live on television and radio in a rare sign of judicial transparency in Africa, says the BBC’s Akwasi Sarpong in the capital, Accra.

After the judgement was announced, a crowd of governing NDC supporters emerged to stand on the court stairs, singing and waving white handkerchiefs.

The court ruled that President Mahama had been “validly elected” after beating the NPP’s Nana Akufo-Addo by 50.7 per cent to 47.7 per cent in the December 2012 election.

Mr Akufo-Addo said he would respect the decision of the nine judges.

“I urge all our supporters to accept the verdict – and in peace,” he said.

The NDC General Secretary, Mr Johnson Asiedu Nketia, said he was happy with the judgement, as he knew the party had done nothing wrong.

The ruling hopefully ends the anxiety hanging over the country for the last eight months, our reporter says.

Ghanaians have been spellbound by the hearings, as such cases are not usually beamed into the homes of people, he says.

The NPP had asked the court to scrap some four million votes, alleging the result was tampered with to guarantee Mr Mahama’s victory in the first round of the election.

The NDC argued that any mistakes made by polling station officials, while recording ballots, was not an attempt to subvert democracy, and there were insufficient grounds for the court to overturn the result.

Despite the legal challenge, Mr Mahama was inaugurated in January.

AP

For its part, the Associated Press (AP) reported that Ghana’s Supreme Court had upheld the results of the last presidential election after opposition officials challenged them.

Justice William Atuguba read the judgement on Thursday, which confirms President John Mahama’s victory.

The New Patriotic Party had cited irregularities in the vote held in December.

The country’s electoral body declared Mahama won the election with 50.7 per cent of the vote, according to the country’s electoral body. Opposition leader Nana Akufo-Addo came in second with 47.7 per cent of the vote.

Ghana, a nation of 25 million on Africa’s western seaboard, is one of the few established and stable democracies in the region.

Reuters

Reuters also reported that Ghana’s Supreme Court on Thursday rejected an opposition challenge to President John Mahama’s victory in December’s presidential election, ending months of legal wrangling in the oil- and cocoa-exporting African nation.

Mahama won December’s vote with 50.7 per cent of the ballot but the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) had alleged fraud ranging from inflated tallies to the participation of unregistered voters.

“The overall effect is that the first respondent (Mahama) was validly elected and the petition is therefore dismissed,” Justice William Atuguba, president of the nine-member panel, told a hearing.

Most shops in central Accra were shut and the streets were quiet as many Ghanaians watched the verdict at home. Police had sealed off the main streets leading to the court, where helicopters hovered overhead, part of a deployment of 30,000 officers nationwide in case of any violence.

Both Mahama and opposition leader Nana Akufo-Addo had pledged to accept the ruling and had asked their followers to do same.

The ruling should ease uncertainty in one of Africa’s brightest frontier markets, which has built a reputation for political stability in turbulent West Africa.

However, analysts said investors’ attention would now shift back to the government’s efforts to trim a budget deficit which climbed to more than 12 per cent of GDP last year.

“Although an important element of uncertainty has been removed with the court verdict, it is unlikely that we will see a significant market impact,” said Razia Khan, Africa analyst at Standard Chartered Bank. “Investors will pay careful attention to any measures aimed at achieving fiscal consolidation,” he said.

–

Source: Graphic Online

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Moments after the verdict was announced, President Mahama, who was waiting anxiously for the judgement, in the company of the Vice-President, Mr Kwesi Bekoe Amissah-Arthur, and some ministers of state at the Flagstaff  House, hugged one another and sang to the glory of God.

Meanwhile, staff at the Presidency, some of whom were in white attires and white armbands, joyously came out of their offices, jubilated and congratulated one another.

The arrival of the legal team led by Messrs Tsatsu Tsikata and Tony Lithur, counsel for the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) and President John Mahama, respectively, reignited the celebration.

Some of the ministers and other officials took turns to take pictures with the lawyers, who held the fort for the President and the NDC in the election petition for about eight months. Most of them did the victory sign.

The Vice-President, who briefed the media, said “we feel relieved at long last” but added that there was much work ahead which needed the efforts of all Ghanaians.

He said the poverty level in the country was unacceptable, stressing, “This is what the government will tackle now with all seriousness at all fronts”.

“There is clear certainty now. We are working for growth and have no doubt, we will work together to put the economy on the right track and improve the lives of majority of the people,” he said.

Vice-President Amissah-Arthur said because of the strong response to the petition, he was expecting that all the judges would score in favour of the President and added that “notwithstanding that I have absolute confidence in the justices of the Supreme Court”.

He commended Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, one of the petitioners in the case, for accepting the verdict of the justices, calling to personally congratulate President Mahama on winning the case and for pledging to support the President to improve the lives of Ghanaians.

–

Source: Graphic Online

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The bishops therefore, endorsed the call by a section of society for the victors in the election petition case not to celebrate after the court verdict, but rather continue their normal endeavours to develop the country.

At a press conference to crown its extraordinary plenary held from August 6 to 8, 2013, the Catholic Church’s most important decision-making body in Ghana also made a passionate appeal to Ghanaians to remain calm before and after the Supreme Court’s verdict on the ongoing presidential election petition.

It urged the leadership of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP) to accept the court’s verdict in good faith and encourage their supporters to do same.

The press conference, which was in collaboration with STAR-Ghana, a non-governmental organisation, was part of numerous sensitisation programmes to preserve the country’s peace and unity before and after the Supreme Court delivers its verdict.

The presidential candidate of the NPP in the 2012 elections, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, and two others, on December 28, 2012, filed the petition challenging the result of the presidential election which declared President John Dramani  Mahama the winner.

On April 16, 2013, the hearing began until July 17 when the court ended taking evidence.

On August 7, 2013, the court took oral addresses and is expected to give its final judgement by the end of August 2013.

The petition appears to have put the entire country on the edge, as Ghanaians wait anxiously for the verdict that will endorse President Mahama, order a re-run of the presidential election or put a seal on Nana Akufo-Addo as the President.

Champion Cause of Peace

To keep the country’s democratic clock ticking, even after the verdict has been delivered, the President of the GCBC, the Most Rev Joseph Osei-Bonsu, called on “all citizens to continue to pray, work and champion the cause of peace before and after the verdict of the Supreme Court”.

“We believe that each one of us can and must contribute to greater justice and peace by reflecting seriously on our personal and collective responsibility in the current state of uneasy calm in our country,” he said.

Ever since the Fourth Republican Constitution came into effect in 1992, Ghana has been to the polls six times, but this is the first time somebody has met the 21-day mandatory period to challenge the results of the presidential election.

That, the Most Rev Osei-Bonsu, who is also the Bishop of Konongo-Mampong, said was commendable, adding, “We have acquitted ourselves creditably, earning the respect of the international community. Today, Ghana is perceived as a functional democracy and a model stable state.”

However, he said, while Ghanaians could take individual and collective credit for the feat and seek ways of consolidating the country’s democratic gains, the time had come for all to guard against complacency which could derail the gains made so far.

With the media and social commentators bracing up for the ruling on the landmark case, the Most Rev Osei-Bonsu appealed to all “media houses and social commentators to be circumspect in their commentaries on the case and to use their media platform, after the verdict, to encourage reconciliation and peaceful coexistence among Ghanaians”.

He was optimistic that Ghanaians would remain calm and that the security agencies would be able to maintain peace and order at all times.

In a passionate appeal touching on pre and post-verdict Ghana, the Bishops took turns in 12 local languages to ask Ghanaians “to think Ghana first”, saying, “Our forebears sacrificed  to bring our country to this position and it is now our turn to work together to safeguard the unity and stability that our country is enjoying.”

In that regard, the Bishops encouraged “the eventual winner to seek ways of building consensus and shared responsibility in tackling the core problems of the nation, including unemployment, corruption and polarisation”.

That, according to them, would eliminate the winner-takes-all syndrome in Ghana’s body politic and unite all Ghanaians as one people.

“Peace is not just a gift to be received; it is also something to be worked for. Therefore, peace must be cultivated and people must be educated to work for it,” they said.

About the nine-member Supreme Court panel, they said, “We are confident that our Justices will offer justice to the nation in their judgement. It is our prayer that in discharging this all-important duty, they will be guided by the Holy Spirit and God will endow them with the necessary strength and courage to give the right verdict without fear or favour.”

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Source: Graphic Online

The post Don’t celebrate election petition verdict — Catholic Bishops appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

Mr Justice William Atuguba, President of the nine-member panel of judges hearing the case, gave the indication after lawyers for the petitioners and the respondents wound up their oral addresses yesterday.

According to Mr Justice Atuguba, the court would return on August 14, 2013 to enable the panel to ask questions and to seek further clarifications from the parties before fixing a date for the delivery of its judgement.

The Supreme Court (Amendment Rules), 2012, C. I. 74 indicates that judgement should be delivered in a presidential election petition 15 days after the close of the case.

Earlier at yesterday’s sitting, it was a battle of wits, when each of the four lawyers for the petitioners and the respondents attempted to use 30 minutes to justify why the claims of electoral irregularities in 10,119 polling stations during the presidential election should be upheld or be declined by the highest court of the land.

Case of the President

The first to address the court was lead counsel for the President, Mr Tony Lithur, who argued that the petitioners had failed to discharge the burden of proof to warrant the annulment of 3,931,339 votes.

Counsel told the court that in the heat of the voting and after it had become apparent that the biometric machines were not working, several prominent personalities, including President Mahama and other noticeable chiefs, made an appeal for qualified voters to be allowed to vote without being verified.

Following from that, he said, the EC, on December 8, 2012, allowed voting to take place at polling stations where biometric verification machines had broken down the day before.

Mr Lithur said the NPP issued press statements in which it made all manner of allegations when it emerged that it was losing the elections when the results were trickling in.

However, counsel stated that the issues the petitioners brought to court differed from the allegations they had made before the filing of the petition.

Desk-Bound Exercise

Counsel told the court that the star witness of the petitioners, Dr Mahamadu Bawumia, headed the task force which collected computers and sat in an office to begin what he termed a “desk exercise on the face of pink sheets”.

Mr Lithur said it was clear from Dr Bawumia’s evidence that there was no polling agent present during the investigations.

He submitted that no polling agent was questioned on what was found on the face of the pink sheets, adding that the petitioners “poured over paper” to make a request that votes be annulled according to evidence on the face of pink sheets.

He also made reference to what he termed Dr Bawumia’s mantra of “You and I were not there” and said such a serious exercise had been limited to the face of pink sheets.

Mr Lithur was of the view that if there were irregularities, the polling agents knew what they had to do and asked if the polling agents saw anybody voting more than once.

He said there was no claim that persons whose names were not on the voters register were allowed to vote and also asked if polling agents had seen anybody voting without undergoing biometric verification.

According to Mr Lithur, per the petitioners’ claims, they were inviting the court to ignore the role of the polling agent, as enshrined in the Constitution, as well as ignore the fact that not a single complaint was lodged at the polling station or at the constituency level.

He argued that seeing a case of over-voting on any pink sheet was clearly an error and emphasised the importance of the right to vote.

Describing allegations of some pink sheets having duplicate serial numbers as “amazing”, counsel held that polling stations were known by their names and codes.

Biometric Verification and Absence of Signatures

Responding to allegations of persons voting without undergoing biometric verification, counsel said that was not true because voting was adjourned to the next day due to the breakdown of some biometric verification machines.

He also wondered where petitioners’ polling agents were when persons were allegedly allowed to vote without undergoing biometric verification.

On the issue of absence of signatures of presiding officers, counsel said the omission of a presiding officer to sign a pink sheet should not be visited on the voter who joined long queues to vote on voting day.

Mr Lithur agreed with the assertion of the Chairman of the EC, Dr Kwadwo Afari-Gyan, that the December election was the most transparent Ghana had ever had, adding that President Mahama won “fairly and squarely”.

Counsel, accordingly, prayed the court to maintain the status quo.

The Case of the EC

Arguing for the EC, Mr Quashie-Idun made reference to Dr Bawumia’s testimony that the NPP thought it was winning on December 7, 2012 when everything changed on December 8, 2012.

After reading excerpts from the court proceedings on Dr Bawumia’s testimony, Mr Quashie-Idun said Dr Bawumia could not tell the court what actually changed after December 7, 2012.

However, counsel was of the view that nothing had changed, pointing out that the votes were counted in the full glare of the public and in the presence of polling agents.

He also argued that representatives of the various candidates were present in the strong room of the EC when results from the constituencies were presented.

Those tenets, Mr Quashie-Idun argued, were the pillars of transparency in elections in Ghana and, accordingly, prayed the court to “sceptically” look at attempts to undermine the results on the face of the pink sheets.

Touching on duplicated serial numbers on some pink sheets and the failure of presiding officers to sign some pink sheets, Mr Quashie-Idun asked, “Did presiding officers stop signing? Did serial numbers pop up?”

He made reference to Dr Afari-Gyan’s testimony that representatives of political parties were allowed 24-hour access to monitor the printing of ballot papers, among other processes leading up to the polls.

He also stated that the voters register was given to all the political parties who, in turn, gave it to their polling agents to use on election day and prayed the court to “imagine the issue of counting not taking place in public”.

Mr Quashie-Idun was of the view that Ghana’s electoral system was very transparent and said “verifiably” Ghana’s electoral system was not questionable.

He said the petitioners had not established “the casual link between their allegations, even if established, and the results as declared by the EC”.

He further held that the level of participation made it impossible to falsify results and cited the Dome Kwabenya example where an allegation of vote padding in favour of President Mahama was made.

At that constituency, Mr Quashie-Idun said, counting was done nine times and the results entered after parties were satisfied.

Counsel denied allegations of over-voting and said no ballot stuffing took place due to vigilance on the part of observers at the polling stations and added that out of the 26,002 polling stations, only one discrepancy was recorded.

That discrepancy, which involved 80 votes, according to Mr Quashie-Idun, was not enough to change the results declared by the EC.

He said the petitioners had failed to prove their case and, accordingly, prayed the court not to annul “one single vote” because there was no justification for annulment in each category.

Voters did nothing wrong

Making his submissions for the NDC, Mr Tsikata Tsatsu said the request of the petitioners for the annulment of votes must be dismissed.

Counsel said the petitioners admitted that voters did nothing wrong and further admitted that no one voted more than once and yet they were asking that valid votes be annulled.

He said the petitioners were in court to depose a “retroactive penalty” on persons who stood for hours in queues to vote.

According to counsel, the Constitution was very clear that the courts should not “countenance retroactive penalisation” and made reference to Article 42 of the 1992 Constitution which touched on the right of persons to vote.

Dr Bawumia disqualified himself

According to Mr Tsikata, Dr Bawumia disqualified himself with his “You and I were not there” assertions during his testimony on what might have happened at polling stations, adding, “He had no capacity to give testimony to seek the declarations he was seeking.”

Counsel told the court that Dr Bawumia had stated in his affidavit evidence that irregularities occurred at 11,842 polling stations and further insisted in court that he did his analysis based on 11,842 polling stations.

That claim, according to Mr Tsikata, turned out to be false after the international audit firm submitted its final report which indicated that the polling stations were not more than 8,675.

He said what was now in the closing address was 10,119 polling stations and said on the last but one day of the hearing, a figure of 10,081 was given by the petitioners.

That, according to counsel, could not be a legitimate basis to annul votes.

Counsel argued further that the court could not rely on the exhibits provided by the petitioners because they fell outside the range of the affidavit of Dr Bawumia.

Rules of Court

Counsel argued further that the rules of the court were clear and said the petitioners were required by law to provide not less than seven sets of exhibits to the justices, adding that “in many instances they have only provided one”.

He said 93 of the exhibits were not within the ‘further and better particulars’ and argued further that more than 5,000 out of the 8,000 pink sheets were not properly before the court as evidence.

Those issues, according to counsel, went to the heart of the petition, adding, “They have not even discharged the burden of evidence and the judges cannot be asked to assess those evidence.”

Over-voting

Counsel also argued that no evidence was led to prove that a person voted more than once, while Dr Bawumia acknowledged that a person could not make allegations of over-voting on the basis of what was on the pink sheets alone.

On the failure of presiding officers to sign pink sheets, Mr Tsikata said it was not fair for publicly declared votes to be annulled because a presiding officer did not sign and held further that polling agents were also required to sign the pink sheets.

According to counsel, the “most outrageous claim” was that of duplication of serial numbers, adding that it was “the weakest link in an already weak claim”.

He also accused the petitioners of selecting polling stations favourable to their case.

Urging the court to dismiss the petitioners’ claims, Mr Tsikata said, “The petitioners’ claim is factually empty, with no supportable evidence being produced. It is legally pathetic; the petition is poor in arithmetic and extremely poor in logic.”

Declare Nana Akufo-Addo President

Making a case for the petitioners, Mr Phillip Addison said the petitioners had led substantial evidence to warrant the annulment of votes in the 10,119 polling stations and the subsequent declaration of Nana Akufo-Addo as President.

He said the respondents had persistently maintained that the 2012 elections were credible and had argued for the court to uphold the results, yet when they were confronted with the pink sheets, which were the primary records of the poll, they shied away.

Counsel held that what was bizarre was that the defective pink sheets were used in the declaration of the results and submitted that Mr Tsikata had resurrected a dead issue on the number of pink sheets submitted by the petitioners.

He said according to the KPMG, 8,675 unique pink sheets in the court registrar’s lot were discovered, out of which 1,545 were excluded, and upon the order of the court, 1,234 were also discovered as unique by the EC.

Mr Addison said another set of 804 pink sheets were found to be unique in Mr Justice Atuguba’s set. He said 648 pink sheets used by the respondents to cross- examine Dr Bawumia were found to be unique.

According to him, the addition of those pink sheets proved that the petitioners filed 11,000 plus pink sheets.

According to counsel, President Mahama did not win more than one per cent of the total votes and not the total valid votes cast at the election.

Difference in votes is 325,863

Counsel told the court that President Mahama beat Nana Akufo-Addo by 325,863 and said the total votes annexed by the Minority in Parliament were more than the votes annexed by the Majority in Parliament.

“For the first respondent, he garnered 5,574,761, as against 5,127, 641 by all his parliamentary candidates, which showed a difference of 447,120. What accounted for this difference? It cannot be the skirt-and-blouse phenomenon because the NDC is in the majority. The Majority in Parliament secured 121,221 votes less than the Minority. This is curious and undermines the one man, one vote spelt out in the Constitution,” Mr Addison pointed out.

He said when all the categories of violations and irregularities were combined for the 10,119 polling stations, 3,931,339 votes were deemed to be invalid, and not five million votes, as the respondents had sought to make the court believe.

He said when the results were annulled, President Mahama’s votes would be reduced by at least two million, while those of Nana Akufo-Addo would be reduced by one million votes.

He said by the computations, President Mahama would get 41.79 per cent of the valid votes cast, while Nana Akufo-Addo would have 56.85 per cent of the valid votes cast.

He said the respondents’ claim that there was no evidence of over-voting was a bit “curious.”

“Voting is a secret affair and the only time one can find cases of over-voting is only after voting had taken place and the results counted,” counsel added.

Petitioners proved infractions

Mr Addison argued that the petitioners were able to prove each infraction of over-voting, persons voting without undergoing biometric verification, presiding officers not signing signatures and duplicated serial numbers on pink sheets.

For instance, he said, the signing of pink sheets was mandatory, adding that the petitioners were able to prove that more than 900 pink sheets were not signed, aside from the 905 admitted by the EC.

He said although no explanation had been given as to why some pink sheets had duplicated serial numbers, “not a word was said about triplicate and quadruplicate serial numbers”.

That, according to counsel, was because those issues were “unanswerable”, pointing out that the petitioners were also able to prove that some polling stations with the same code but different results went into the declaration of results.

Critical admissions

Counsel said Dr Afari-Gyan made some critical admissions, including the admission which enhanced and reinforced the concept of one man, one vote.

He said Dr Afari-Gyan also told the court that he had not seen a single pink sheet before declaring the results, as well as some results in some polling stations being annulled due to infractions, among others.

He admitted that presidential election petitions in Kenya, Zambia, Sierra Leone and Nigeria had not been successful because of technicalities and the lack of numbers.

In the instance of Ghana, counsel argued that each infraction was enough to unseat President Mahama and, accordingly, prayed the court to uphold the case of the petitioners.

The petitioners want the presidential candidate of the NPP in the December 2012 presidential election, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, declared President on the grounds that President Mahama would not chalk 50 per cent plus one vote when invalid votes he benefited from were annulled by the Supreme Court.

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Source: Graphic Online

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