Admit you’ve been outsmarted - Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko urges Tsatsu Tsikata
-According to him, there is nothing wrong with the counsels for the respondents' decision not to call witnesses in the case
-Tsatsu Tsikata, however, maintained that the EC boss cannot and must not be allowed to escape cross-examination
-He says she has to be accountable for her stewardship during the 2020 elections as the Returning Officer
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Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko has advised Tsatsu Tsikata to admit he was outmaneuvered in the ongoing election petition trial.
The comments by the leading member of the governing NPP followed a spirited legal argument by the veteran legal luminary against moves to have the chairperson of the Electoral Commission (EC) evade cross-examination in the trial.
Source: UGC
“Tsatsu should simply admit that he’s been outsmarted!” Otchere-Darko wrote via his social media handle on Tuesday, February 9, 2021.
Tsikata, John Mahama’s lawyer in the trial, urged Jean Mensa to testify, telling her that the “truth shall make her free.”
He told the court during his submissions on Tuesday that the EC chair cannot be shielded from cross-examination after signing the witness statement the first respondent put out in the trial.
“What has been put before you is not in accordance with the rules of this court and should not be countenanced,” he told the seven-member panel hearing the case.
In his reaction, Otchere-Darko stated that the petitioner cannot allege wrongdoing in the 2020 elections and expect the respondents to make his case for him.
“Calling of witnesses is an option which a party can choose not to exercise if indeed that party sees it as not necessary,” he stated.
Justin Amenuvor and Akoto Ampaw, lawyers of the respondents told the Supreme Court on Monday, February 8, 2021, that they will not call witnesses of their own.
They argued that the three witnesses called by the petitioner “have not satisfied the burden of proof” when they appeared before the court.
The Supreme Court adjourned the hearing to Thursday, February 11, 2021, to rule on the application.
The NDC flagbearer, John Dramani Mahama, petitioned the Supreme Court to order a second round of the December 7, election.
According to him, the votes obtained by NPP’s candidate, President Nana Akufo-Addo, and himself in the December 7, election as declared by the EC Chair were not enough for a candidate to be declared the winner.
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Source: YEN.com.gh
