You can’t hang the destiny of your case on opponents’ moves - Ace Ankomah tells Mahama
- Lawyers for the first and second respondents have said they will not call any witnesses
- Jean Mensa and Peter Mac Manu, the campaign director of the NPP are expected to be cross-examined after the petitioner’s witnesses
- Mahama is before the apex court to have the results of the 2020 presidential elections set aside
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Private legal practitioner Ace Anan Ankomah says John Dramani Mahama cannot hang the destiny of his case on what his opponents might or might not do in court.
“If you go to court alleging that something has or has not happened, the burden is on you to provide the evidence,” he stated in an op-ed titled: ‘He Who Alleges Must Prove’.
Source: Facebook
“And that becomes a tad difficult when you have admitted that you indeed have that evidence in your possession, custody, and power, but boldly (and probably calamitously) testify that you decided not to bring that evidence to the court,” he added.
Ankomah’s comments come on the back of Tsatsu Tsikata’s fierce arguments against moves to have the chairperson of the Electoral Commission (EC) evade cross-examination in the ongoing 2020 election petition trial.
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.
Tsikata who is the petitioner’s lead counsel, however, objected to the respondents’ lawyers’ moves.
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 presented to the court 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.
Meanwhile, Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko advised him to admit he was outmaneuvered in the ongoing election petition trial.
“Tsatsu should simply admit that he’s been outsmarted!” the leading member of the governing NPP wrote on his social media handle on Tuesday, February 9, 2021.
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.
The Supreme Court adjourned the hearing to Thursday, February 11, 2021, to rule on the application.
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Source: YEN.com.gh
