The petitioners in court
Posted on: www.dailyguideghana.com
By William Yaw Owusu
Wednesday March 13,2014
The landmark petition in which three leading
members of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) are challenging the
declaration of John Dramani Mahama as President by the Electoral Commission
(EC) in the December 7&8, 2012 general election is getting comical by the
day with over 500 people filing as joinders.
Since the court ordered the petitioners to furnish
the respondents with ‘further and better particulars’, hundreds of National Democratic
Congress (NDC) supporters have filed applications in droves to ask the highest
court of the land to allow them to join the petition.
500
Joinders
As at yesterday, close to 40 groups making up of
about 500 individuals of the ruling party’s supporters have filed at the
Supreme Court Registry and there were fears that it could even be more.
The joinder applications by the NDC supporters are
seen as a ploy to delay the court process.
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Some of these NDC supporters want to join the petition
As it is, if the highest court of the land allows
them to join, the progress made so far in the case would be grounded to allow
the applicants to file their answers to the petition.
Sources
of Applications
The first nine applications to hit the court’s
registry had the stamps of Urafiki Law Consult, Ghana Commercial Bank Main, 1st
Floor, Near Meridian Hotel, Tema and it showed that they were all prepared from
that chamber.
In the second batch of applications, they have the
stamps of Deleric Law Consult, House No. 25 Watson Avenue, Behind Holy Spirit
Cathedral, Adabraka Accra.
Intentions
A cursory look at all the applications would show
that the applicants are initiating the action after the petitioners were made
to provide details of all the polling stations where they claim irregularities
or malpractices occurred.
To confirm the suspicion, all the applications
state that “We are surprised to hear that the petitioners have in the present
petition identified our polling station as one of those whose entire results
should be annulled by the Honourable Court on grounds stated in the said petition.”
Strangely, the applicants who are again coming
from different regions of the country have the same averments in their
affidavits in support of the motions for joinder and they also have the same
addresses as group members.
DAILY
GUIDE has information that some of the clerks of the
respondents are the ones helping the applicants to file the processes at the
court’s registry.
So far 135 individuals making 17 groups have
successfully filed their applications. Eighty individuals of 9 groups have
already filed last week and more trooping to the court to join the case in a
bizarre manner.
Background
of Applicants
The first group (10 individuals) to file the
motion has one Sulemana Mohammed Baba of Balogu in the Yendi Constituency in
the Northern Region as deponent.
All the group members have similar address and the
deposition was made in Tamale and they cite H120501 as their polling station
code.
In the case of the second group (4 individuals),
the deponent is Bakori Mabeila of Dayugu- Digli in the Gushiegu constituency in
the Northern Region. The deposition was made in Tamale and they cite H160904 as
their polling station code.
The third group (10 individuals) has Sualisu Adam
of House No N33 Nayugu in the Gushiegu Constituency is the deponent. They cite
H162302 as their polling station code.
Another group of 10 individuals has Yakubu Andani
of House No Z/B12, Zinindo in the Gushiegu Constituency as the deponent. They
cited H162002 as their polling station code.
The next group has Iddi Alaaji Mohammed Bila of
House No NK 162, Kpatinga in the Gushiegu Constituency is the deponent. They
cited H162201 as their polling station code.
Another group made up of 10 individuals has
Mahaman Alhassan of Kuga in the Yendi Constituency as the deponent. They cited
H121501 as their polling station code.
The next group of another 10 individuals has Seidu
Azara of KP 16, Kpana Yili in the Mion Constituency in the Northern Region as
the deponent. They cited H132004 as their polling station.
Zakaria Abdulai of Hounse No B90, Sang in the Mion
Constituency is the leader of another group of 10 individuals. The group cited
H131801 as their polling station code.
The next batch of 8 individuals has Salifu Abdulai
of House No K/32, Kulinkpegu in the Mion Constituency as the deponent. They
cited H132101 as their polling station.
Ibrahim S. Yakubu of House No K.15, Kulinkpegu in
the Mion Constituency is the deponent for 8 individuals. They cited H132102 as
their polling station code.
Another batch of 6 individuals has Soumaiil
Boukari of House No C113/5, Sainya in the Yilo Krobo Constituency in the
Eastern Region is the deponent. They cited E041102 as the polling station code.
Kwame Adam of Op Adam’s House at Brenase in the
Ofoase Ayirebi Constituency in the Eastern Region leading a group of 10
individuals is the deponent. They cited E151801 as the polling station code.
The next batch of 10 individuals led by Suleimana
Yussif of Z/37, Zongo Ofoase in the Ofoase Ayirebi Constituency is the
deponent. They cited E151501 as their polling station.
Edmund Otoo Ellis of House No D43/1, Adjikpo in
the Yilo Krobo Constituency, leading 6 individuals is the deponent. They cited E041001
as their polling station code.
The next batch of 10 individuals led by Alhassan
Mahama of House No KNT/C 100, Zongo in the New Juaben South Constituency in the
Eastern Region is the deponent. They cited E053005 as their polling station.
Sugri Muniru of Bagbani in the Yendi Constituency
leading 9 individuals is the deponent. They cited H130601 as their polling
station.
Another group of 10 individuals led by Agbenyega
Brian Kwami of House No AT/B16, Koforidua Secondary School in the New Juaben
South Constituency is the deponent. They cited E053201 as their polling station.
Finally, Alhassan Abdul-Rahman of Malzeri in the
Yendi Constituency, leading 10 individuals is the deponent. They cited H130602
as the polling station code.
Arguments
Their line of argument appear similar to what the
1st respondent (President John Dramani Mahama) and 3rd
respondent, (National Democratic Congress - NDC) cited in the main
petition filed as their answers.
They are claiming that there were no protests by
any of the contesting political parties when the results were declared and
added that the process were so “transparent and compliant that after the
declaration of the results, there was no dispute about the winner; and we all
accepted the results as true and binding on us in the said polling station.”
“As voters who had lawfully exercise their
franchise, we say that we are directly interested in the outcome of the
petition. We also wish to protect our validly cast votes, based on which the
results of the Presidential elections were held.”
They say that since the petitioners are seeking to
annul some votes, the court should allow them to join the case to protect their
votes.
“We would suffer irreparable hardship if our votes
were cancelled, in that we would have been denied our constitutional right to
be part of the decision making process
of the country, a right which, we are advised by counsel, is guaranteed by the
1992 Constitution and is inalienable and which cannot be compensated in anyway
whatsoever.”
The court has fixed March 14, 2013, to hear all
the motions.
Facts
of the Case
The NPP presidential candidate, Nana Addo Dankwa
Akufo-Addo, his running mate, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia and the party’s Chairman,
Jake Otanka Obetsebi-Lamptey are the petitioners in the case.
They
have petitioned the court to investigate the results declared in 11,916 polling
stations since they say they have evidence of irregularities and malpractices
in those polling stations which could nullify the votes in those polling
stations.
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