Senior Member of the governing New Patriotic Party, Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko, says former President John Dramani Mahama’s election petition goes against the essence of petitions.

According to Mr Otchere-Datko, who is a cousin of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, the National Democratic Congress’ flagbearer is asking the Supreme Court to set aside the will of Ghanaians, which is not what petitions are meant for.

In a Twitter post, he said Mr Mahama is calling on the court to declare a verdict in his favour based on an error by the Electoral Commission which has been corrected since.

Source: AdomOnline

Lead Counsel for the 1st Respondent in the Election Petition hearing, Justin Amenuvor, has shown solidarity to colleague Lawyer Dominic Ayine who was cited for Contempt by the Supreme Court.

According to Justin Amenuvor, he has been friends with the spokesperson for the Petitioner for as long as possible and was even the best man at his wedding thus he was only there to show support.

His statement comes after a judge asked whether he [Amenuvor] came to support his roommate adding that his name was not part of the Lawyers involved in the case.

“Yes my Lord, I came to support my roommate, best man and my best friend. I am not appearing as Counsel but as a friend of Dominic Ayine and a best man at his wedding. He was Commonwealth Hall Secretary in our year, he’s a very good friend of mine. We go way back.”

Dr Ayine was found guilty for some comments he made while addressing the media on February 16, 2021. According to him, the apex court had a “pre-determined agenda” to rule against the Petitioner and flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress, John Dramani Mahama.

Following the hearing on February 21, Dr Dominic Ayine was called to mount the witness box to explain the reason for his utterances. According to him, it wasn’t his intention to mar the reputation of the Supreme Court and quickly apologized to the Justices on the bench.

The Chief Justice, Kwesi Anin-Yeboah, conditioned that he would only be forgiven if he [Ayine] rendered an unqualified apology and retracts the ‘scandalous statement’ through the medium he defamed the apex court of Ghana on.

Following the retraction and apology, the Supreme Court discharged the case while advising the former Attorney General to be cautious with his utterances and not cause further him to his profession and the Supreme Court.

“We want to struck out having apologized and purge yourself from contempt”. The Chief Justice noted.

Meanwhile, the Election Petition hearing will continue on March 4 for judgement.

Source: GhanaWeb

The lawyers of the Electoral Commission (EC), first respondent in the ongoing petition hearing say it is unfortunate that they were dragged to court by the NDC’s 2020 Presidential Candidate, John Mahama.

According to them, the harmless mistake made by EC boss, Jean Mensah while declaring the election results on December 9 had no bearing on the outcome of the election which has triggered the petition.

They further stated that the former President has failed to provide any evidence whatsoever to challenge the election results and for that matter, the declaration of the result and hence, they are calling on the court to dismiss the petitioner’s case.

The submission is contained in the written closing address filed by the lawyers in compliance with the Supreme Court’s orders.

Source: MyJoyOnline