Supreme Court dismisses Mahama’s 2020 election petition

The Supreme Court has dismissed former President John Dramani Mahama’s petition challenging 2020 Presidential election results today, Thursday, March 4.

In delivering the judgment, Chief Justice Anim Yeboah said the petition is dismissed without merit.

He noted that indeed, evidence on record clearly showed that the impact of alleged vote padding even if proved would be very insignificant to overturn the results obtained by President Akufo-Addo.

“We have settled in our minds that the allegation of vote padding though serious in our presidential election was not proved by credible evidence. Furthermore, even if the vote padding took place same was not material or substantial to change the final results so declared by the First Respondent Jean Mensa, Chair of the Electoral Commission.”

The impact of the vote padding if even proved, Justice Anim Yeboah stated, could not have affected the declaration.

“If you take the alleged vote padding of 4,693 from the total valid votes of President Akufo-Addo, he will still have obtained more than 50percent of the total valid votes cast certified the threshold of Article 63 clause 3 of the 1992 constitution.”

In a unanimous decision by the 7 justices of the Supreme Court, he indicated that they conclude the judgement by emphasising that the petitioner did not demonstrate in anyway how the alleged errors in the unilateral corrections by Jean Mensa affected the validity of the declaration made by her on December 9, 2020.

“We have therefore no reason to order a re-run,” he intimated.

The Supreme Court’s judgment addresses five issues that were set forth for determination, including the question of whether or not President Akufo-Addo met the constitutional threshold for election to the office of president.

Former President John Mahama who re-contested the election on the ticket of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), took the Electoral Commission to court, challenging the validity of the Commission’s 9th December 2020 declaration of Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo as winner of the poll.

Mr. Mahama also contended in his petition that, President Akufo-Addo did not meet the constitutional threshold for election to the high office of the president yet was so declared.

He has been praying the court in the last two months, albeit amidst strong opposition from lawyers for President Akufo-Addo and the Electoral Commission, to nullify the declaration and to cause a re-run between him and President Akufo-Addo.

source: modernghana.com