Election petition: I never said Mahama won the 2020 elections - Aseidu Nketia to Court
-Former President Mahama has rejected the results as a sham and launched a petition at the Supreme Court aimed at having the results cancelled
- Akufo-Addo defeated him by collecting 51.302% of the votes
-His first witness denied ever saying he won the election
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Johnson Asiedu Nketia, one of the witnesses John Dramani Mahama is relying on in the ongoing election petition trial, told the Supreme Court he never said the former president won the 2020 presidential elections.
The general secretary of the National Democratic Congress’ shift from the stance held by leading figures of the party including Mahama before the start of the trial strengthens the cases of the first and second respondents.
Source: Facebook
Nketia’s explosive remark came during his cross-examination by the counsel for President Nana Akufo-Addo, Akoto Ampaw where he showed the chief NDC scribe video clips in which he, the petitioner, and other leading members proclaimed victory in the elections.
“My Lord, I indicated that I never said that the petitioner had won the elections,” he retorted the suggestions by Ampaw.
Nketia’s comments caught the attention of the NDC’s former deputy general secretary, Koku Anyidoho.
In the view of the founder of the Atta Mills Institute, what transpired at Court on Monday, February 1, 2021, was an obvious indication that the former president’s case was dead on arrival.
He tweeted: “If you don't have a balcony, do not make a monkey your pet: if you don't have facts to back your case, do not go to court oooo!”
Akufo-Addo defeated Mahama in the 2020 election to secure another four-year term. He had 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.
\\\ Mahama rejected the outcome of the elections. He filed a petition before the Apex Court to challenge the outcome of the 2020 presidential race.
He wants a rerun to be conducted between him and President Akufo-Addo.
Away from politics to health, a herbal medicine, Cryptolepis sanguinolenta, has been approved for a clinical trial in Ghana for the treatment of COVID-19, signaling a breakthrough in the fight against the virus in the West African country.
Known locally as ‘Nibima’, Cryptolepis sanguinolenta’s approval for the trial was announced on Monday, February 1, 2021, by the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA).
This comes at a time the country is reeling under the devastating nature of the scourge.
Ghana recorded its first case of the virus on March 12, 2020, from two people who arrived in the country—a Ghanaian and a Norwegian national.
Ghana has since the inception of January witnessed an astronomical surge in case count.
Active cases stand at 5,358. So far, 416 people have died from the deadly contagion with 170 and 44 persons in severe and critical conditions respectively.
Read also
Election petition: Figures were just thrown out to give Akufo-Addo victory - Tsatsu Tsikata
In a communiqué issued and signed by the CEO of the FDA and sighted by YEN.com.gh, the clinical trials will be conducted at two locations.
The herbal medicine developed by the School of Public Health at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) was submitted to the FDA for the clinical trial in September 2020 and approval was granted in January 2021.
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Source: YEN.com.gh
