Posted on: www.dailyguideghana.com
By William Yaw Owusu
Friday, May 24, 2013.
Report reaching Daily Guide indicate that KPMG, the
reputable international accounting firm chosen by all the parties as referee in
the count of the number of Pink Sheets used as exhibits in the landmark Presidential
Election Petition has found 13,900 of the documents.
It was unclear as at the time of going to press if
the exercise had been completed but it was likely to confirm the petitioners’ case
that they indeed attached the 11,842 as exhibits.
The
Brouhaha
The issue of how many pink sheets were attached as
exhibits in the case has become very contentious with the respondents insisting
that they did not receive all the further and better particulars as directed by
the court.
The request to count the pink sheets was initially
made by the NDC before the court, with the consent of all the parties in the
petition, gave an order for an independent referee to conduct the exercise.
Just as KPMG commenced the exercise in the presence
of two observers each from the parties as ordered by the court, the NDC through
its lead counsel Tsatsu Tsikata came to court with a story that the exhibits
had been compromised and that the boxes containing the pink sheets had
increased from 24 to 31.
In fact, the allegation over whether or not the
boxes of the exhibits had been tampered with started right after the court’s
sitting on Monday, May 20, when news broke that Mr. Tsikata, Tony Lithur who
represents President John Dramani Mahama and later James Quarshie-Idun
representing the Electoral Commission (EC) had gate-crashed at the venue for
the counting and that they had requested panel chairman Justice William Atuguba
to review the order of the court.
According to Mr. Tsikata, there were alleged
criminality involved and as a result, they would prefer an extended control
mechanism that would take into consideration copies served on at least two
panel members to compare with what the pink sheets at the court’s registry.
The issue of whether the petition is being unduly
delayed has come up strongly since Mr. Tsikata took over the cross-examination
of the principal witness Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia who is also the 2nd
petitioner and many are of the view that brouhaha about the pink sheets were
part of the ploy to drag the process.
Mr. Tsikata, whose client came into the petition by
way of a joinder, is in his 13th day of cross-examination even
though NDC’s co-respondents including President John Dramani Mahama and the
Electoral Commission (EC) used about three days each to conclude a similar exercise.
Just as he was winding up on his cross-examination,
he brought another motion, seeking to
cross-examine some of the witnesses who filed affidavits in support of
the petitioners case but the court threw him together with President Mahama and
the EC who made similar applications out.
Mr. Tsikata however, has always denied criticisms
that his style of cross-examination is designed to delay the process, often
accusing the petitioners of presenting exhibits that forced the respondents to
‘dig deep’ in order to counter the petitioner’s claims.
When the NDC complained to the court, the
nine-member panel chaired by Justice William Atuguba rejected their attempt to
halt the counting exercise.
The court ruled that KPMG should continue with the
exercise and any concerns that would be raised by the parties incorporated into
the final report.
The accounting firm has the duty of “specifying in
respect of each pink sheet, polling station name and its code number and
exhibit number if any,” the court stated.
“In doing so the said referee should make a true and
faithful count of the said exhibits of pink sheets according to and under the
various categories of alleged electoral malpractices in issue before this
court.
The court said the professional fees to be charged by
KPMG should be shared equally between the parties and added that each party is
at liberty to choose two representatives for the counting exercise as
observers.
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