Former President John Mahama who was the petitioner in the 2020 Presidential election petition has stated that the decision by the Supreme Court which shielded the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission from being crossed examined has created an embarrassing stain on the justice delivery system and transparent election.
According to Mr. Mahama “Whatever the reasons for not allowing Mrs. Jean Mensa to testify or answer any questions, it leaves an embarrassing stain, not only on our justice delivery system but also, on the nation’s electoral system, which has deepened the grave doubts harbored by many Ghanaians about the true outcome of the December 2020 Presidential Election”. Mr. Mahama said this Thursday evening in his response to the Supreme Court judgment which saw his petition dismissed earlier in the day.
He continued “Ghanaians were hoping to hear her testify many are still baffled by the refusal of Mrs. Jean Mensa to be held to account by testifying in this case – unfortunately, with the unanimous agreement of the justices of the Supreme Court of Ghana. This vital part of the process to establish the truth and hold Mrs. Jean Mensa accountable was blocked time and again by a protective cordon and firewall that I am sure to have confounded many Ghanaians,”
“Worse still, she was aided by her counsel and the court to avoid explaining to the good people of Ghana from her testimony, under oath in a properly constituted court of law, the errors she admits to having committed in the declaration of the 2020 Presidential election results. This is a clear stab in the heart of transparency and accountability to the sovereign people of Ghana”.
Mr. Mahama said the refusal of the EC Chairperson to mount the witness box is a bad precedent for the future.
“Speaking as a Ghanaian, with no legal training, I believe that the refusal of the Electoral Commission Chairperson to testify in this election petition leaves a bad precedent for the future. I disagree with the suggestion of our Justices that an election petition is akin to any other civil litigation and therefore an EC Chairperson, whose functions go to the heart of our democracy, can by legal sleight of hand avoid accounting for her stewardship in an appropriate forum such as the highest court of the land,” he said.
Judgement
A seven-member panel of the Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed the 2020 Presidential election petition instituted by former President John Mahama.
The Presiding Judge Chief Justice, Anim Yeboah stated that the petitioner failed to adduce concrete evidence beyond a reasonable doubt to overturn the outcome of the election to order for a rerun.
The Supreme Court was of the view that errors contained in announced figures of the 2020 Presidential election by the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission, Jean Mensa, which were subsequently corrected, cannot be used to invalidate the election.
Mr. Mahama addressing the media Thursday evening said, he disagrees with the judgement of the court but accepts the decision with lots of reservations due to bad precedents set by not allowing the EC chairperson to mount the dock.
Source: Mybrytfmonline.com/Obed Ansah
