We expected Mahama to present pink sheets to allegations; not spreadsheets - SC justice
- Justice Gertrude Torkornoo has stated that the Supreme Court was expecting pink sheets from the 2020 election petitioner
- That, however, was not the case
- Former President Mahama instead came to the court with spreadsheets to prove electoral irregularities
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Justice Gertrude Torkornoo, a member of the seven-member panel that sat on the 2020 election petition, says the Supreme Court expected the petitioner to provide pink sheets supporting his allegations of electoral irregularities and lack of a clear winner in the presidential poll.
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Former President John Dramani Mahama, the flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) petitioned the apex court after rejecting the outcome of the presidential polls.
He argued in his petition that the December 9 declaration by the chairperson of the Electoral Commission, Jean Mensa, that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo won the presidential election was flawed.
According to him, there was no winner in the election, and that the Supreme Court should set aside the EC chairperson’s declaration and order for a rerun between him and the president.
The Apex Court, however, dismissed the petition, stating that it cannot order a rerun of the 2020 presidential polls.
The panel held that the former president failed to adduce “cogent evidence” to back his claims that there was no winner in the December 7, 2020, presidential elections.
Commenting for the first time publicly about the judgement, Justice Torkornoo said the petitioner failed in adducing critical evidence to back his case.
“There was a spreadsheet alleging vote padding of 4,693 votes in 26 constituencies and we said we would have expected that the pink sheet for those polling stations would have been exhibited to prove the allegation instead of a spreadsheet,” she stated at a recent forum organised by CODEO, 3news.com reports.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo defeated former President John Mahama in the said election to secure another four-year term; 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.
The European Union Election Observation Mission to Ghana 2020 (EU EOM) said the 2020 general elections were “efficiently organised and competitive.”
Chief Observer, Javier Nart, noted that voters participated freely in large numbers and that the process “successfully met a range of international standards.”
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Source: YEN.com.gh
