Election petition: Mahama worried he’s being denied fair hearing - Sammy Gyamfi
- According to him, the former president feels the judicial system is working against him
- He petitioned the Supreme Court to challenge the outcome of the 2020 presidential elections
- According to him, there was no winner in the election, and that a rerun must be ordered between him and President Nana Akufo-Addo
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John Dramani Mahama is “worried” that the Supreme Court is not applying statutes passed by Ghana’s parliament in the ongoing 2020 election petition trial, the former president’s legal team has said.
That, according to the team, has led to the former president being denied a “fair” hearing in the trial.
Source: Facebook
“…We think that the petitioner is being denied a fair hearing and it is important to pursue these issues to the logical conclusions,” a spokesperson for the former president’s legal team, Sammy Gyamfi, stated in a post-trial interview on Monday, February 22, 2021.
Gyamfi’s comments were in reaction to the dismissal of Mahama’s application for review after the court rejected his motion to reopen his case.
Mahama wants to reopen his case to subpoena the chairperson of the Electoral Commission (EC) into the witness box for cross-examination.
But, the court dismissed that application.
The lawyers for the former president then applied for a review of that decision.
Affirming earlier decision: A nine-member panel of the Supreme Court Judges, however unanimously affirmed the ruling by the seven-member panel hearing the election petition.
Reading the ruling of the panel, the Chief Justice, Justice Anin Yeboah, said no provision in the constitution or statute shows that the EC boss can be subjected to different rules contrary to established rules of procedure and settled practice.
The EC boss, he said is not a party to the suit, and therefore, whether or not to testify was not her decision but that of the commission.
“The review jurisdiction was not intended as a try on by a party after losing an appeal…nor is it an automatic misstep from appeal neither is it meant to resort to as an emotional reaction to an unfortunate or unfavourable judgment,” he stated.
Judgment day: The Court has set Thursday, March 4 as judgment day for the election petition case.
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
