The 2020 Presidential candidate of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), John Dramani Mahama, has filed a motion at the Supreme Court seeking the permission of the Apex Court of the land to amend what he says were errors made in the description and positioning of parties in paragraph six (6) and relief number (F) on his writ and petition.
The motion on notice for leave to amend his writ and petition, filed today the 8th of January 2021, was signed by Tony Lithur, Solicitor for the Petitioner.
Changes to be made
The Petitioner (John Mahama) in his affidavit states that “in indorsing on the Writ, the addresses of the parties to be served, an error was made in the description and positioning of the parties in Paragraph 6, which l seek leave to correct”.
Again he indicated that “in the relief numbered (f) on the Writ which was repeated in paragraph 35(f) of the Petition, there is a typographical error in the third and fourth lines, which refers to “1st Respondent” instead of “2nd Respondent”, which I also seek leave to correct”.
“Counsel has advised me that the parties to the Petition have otherwise properly been indorsed on Writ and correctly described in the Petition. In the Appearances which Respondents have caused to be filed on their respective behalves, they acknowledge their correct and proper designations and descriptions. They would therefore not be prejudiced in any manner if the amendment is granted. A copy of each of the proposed Amended Writ and Petition is attached and marked compositely as Exhibit “AMENDMENT 1. I seek the amendment in good faith” the petitioner said in the affidavit of the petition in support of his motion.
Date for Hearing
From the Court documents sighted by Asaase News, the Registrar of the Supreme Court has fixed Thursday the 14th of January 2021, as the date for lawyers of the Petitioner to move their motion before the Court.
Petition Errors
Former President John Mahama in his 30th of December 2020 interchanged who the 1st Respondent (EC) is and who the 2nd respondent (Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo) throughout the petition. Additionally, in the last (6th) relief been sought by the petitioner, instead of requesting an order of the Court to order a rerun between the petitioner and the winner of the 2020 Presidential election, the prayer was rather for a rerun between the petitioner and the Electoral Commission of Ghana.
Background
The Presidential candidate of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the 2020 general elections, John Dramani Mahama, officially filed a petition at the Supreme Court to challenge the 7 December presidential election result on the 30th of December 2020.
“The National Democratic Congress wishes to inform the general public that at about noon this afternoon, the leader and presidential candidate of the party, H.E John Dramani Mahama, caused his lawyers to file a Petition in the Supreme Court of Ghana to challenge the 2020 Presidential Election Results Declaration by the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission of Ghana,” a statement from the NDC said after the filing.
“The Petition was filed under the party‘s audit of the 2020 Presidential results and extensive consultations with the National Executive Committee and Council of Elders of the party.”
According to the NDC, the petition details serious violations of the 1992 Constitution by the Electoral Commission and its chairperson and returning officer for the presidential election, Jean Adukwei Mensa in the conduct of their constitutional and legal responsibilities.
It seeks among others, a declaration from the Supreme Court to the effect that, the purported declaration of the results of the 2020 Presidential Election on the 9th day of December 2020 is unconstitutional, null and void, and of no effect whatsoever.
Chairperson of the Electoral Commission Jean Mensah on the 9 December 2020 declared President Nana Addo Danquah Akufo-Addo as president-elect having secured 51.30% of the valid votes cast. The result of the presidential election has since been gazetted. However, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) says it cannot accept the results because it is “flawed”.
Source: Mybrytfmonline.com
