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

The post Documentary on 2012 Election Petition set to premiere on January 24 appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

This follows the challenge of the 2012 presidential results by the New Patriotic Party led by Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia.

The NPP argued that they had every reason to believe that the results were rigged in favour of the National Democratic Congress’ (NDC) candidate John Dramani Mahama.

[contextly_sidebar id=”RFLyagpa5roVL4ZoWRbBUVyPruldjVKI”]They prayed the Court to declare their candidate, Nana Akufo-Addo as President with reasons that unpardonable malpractices and irregularities at 10,119 polling stations justified the nullification of 3,931,339 “invalid votes” which, the petitioners argued, would have beaten down John Mahama’s votes and overturned the declared results by the Electoral Commission.

According to the NPP’s pleadings, over-voting occurred at 1,722 polling stations, while voting without biometric verification occurred at 2,020 polling stations.

They claimed presiding officers did not also sign pink sheets at 1,638 polling stations, while the use of duplicate serial numbers on pink sheets affected 8,987 polling stations.

The petitioners further argued that if the results of the 10,119 polling stations were annulled, President Mahama’s votes would have reduced by 2,622,551, which would have, in turn, beaten down the results declared by the Electoral Commission in his favour, to 41.79 per cent.

They said although Nana Akufo-Addo’s votes would have, in like manner, been reduced by 1,233,186, he would have nonetheless secured 56.85 per cent, per their permutations, to cross the 50 per cent mark for victory.

But the nine panel Supreme Court in its ruling read by Justice William Atuguba upheld John Mahama as the constitutionally elected President. The ruling however quelled the tensions in Ghana at the time.

The other justices who sat on the case included: Justices Julius Ansah, Sophia Adinyira, Rose Constance Owusu, Jones Victor Dotse, Anin Yeboah, Paul Baffoe-Bonnie, N. S. Gbadegbe and Vida Akoto-Bamfo.

The Supreme Court further made some recommendations to the Electoral Commission for subsequent elections.

Although the then flagbearer of the NPP, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo disagreed with the Supreme Court’s ruling, he accepted it in good faith.

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By: Godwin Akweiteh Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Four years today: Supreme Court ruled on Election Petition case appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.