Akufo-Addo appoints UG lecturer who led 2020 election survey as director of research at Presidency
- President Akufo-Addo has appointed Dr. Isaac Owusu-Mensah as the director of research at the presidency
- Owusu-Mensah is a senior lecturer at the University of Ghana’s Political Science Department
- He led the team whose survey predicted victory for the president in the December 2020 elections
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President Nana Akufo-Addo has appointed Dr. Isaac Owusu-Mensah as the Director of Research at the presidency.
A senior Lecturer at the University of Ghana’s Political Science Department Owusu-Mensah replaces the late Victor Newman who died on December 10, 2020.
Source: Facebook
Owusu-Mensah led the team of researchers whose survey predicted a win for the president in the December 7, 2020, general elections.
The survey which was published on Thursday, November 26, 2020, said Akufo-Addo would be reelected for another four-year term with 51.7% of the valid votes cast whilst the flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) would collect 40.4%.
It also said the Ghana Union Movement (GUM’s), Christian Kwabena Andrews, would also secure 1.4% of the votes, placing him third.
The department interviewed a total of 11,000 respondents to come out with its prediction.
President Akufo-Addo went ahead to win the elections. He defeated Mahama collecting 51.302% of the votes cast against the latter’s 47.359%.
The votes difference between the two candidates stood at 517, 231, representing a four percentage point, one of the highest since 1996.
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But, Mahama refused to concede defeat in the elections, filing filed a petition before the Supreme Court on Wednesday, December 30, 2020, to challenge the outcome, a decision he said was borne out of principle rather than an “insatiable desire for power.”
He wants a re-run of the elections between him and Akufo-Addo, claiming that there was no winner contrary to the EC declaration.
Pre-trial for the case will start on Tuesday, January 19, 2020, and the Chief Justice, Justice Anin Yeboah, would lead the bench hearing the petition.
The court on Thursday, January 14, 2021, granted Mahama’s request to amend errors in his petition.
He mistakenly asked the court to order a rerun of the election between him and the EC instead of Akufo-Addo in the petition.
In granting the motion for the amendment, the court held that the typographical errors sought to be corrected materially did not affect the substance of the case.
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Source: YEN.com.gh
