EC files response, says Mahama’s election petition is ‘untenable’

The Electoral Commission of Ghana (EC) has filed its Response to the election petition filed by the Presidential Candidate of the National Democratic Congress, former President John Dramani Mahama, challenging the declaration of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo as the winner of the 2020 presidential election.

Nana Akufo-Addo and the EC who are respondents to the petition filed separate answers at the Supreme Court Registry on Saturday, January 9, 2020, essentially describing the Petition as lacking merit, incompetent and not raising any reasonable cause of action.

The EC’s brief response averred that it was “misconceived and untenable” for former President Mahama to rely on the error made by the Chairperson of the EC on December 9, 2020, when she inadvertently mentioned the total number of votes cast as the total valid votes cast.

“The full results of the December 7 presidential election was known to the petitioner and that the claims in the petition are contrived, have no legal basis and ought to be dismissed,” the EC argued.

Mahama argues that only the public declaration made by Jean Mensa on 9 December 2020 is guaranteed by the Constitution, and further that all the subsequent corrections were unconstitutional, and in any case declared through unsigned documents which make them no declarations at all.

Mahama further avers that any such corrections should have been done in the presence of the reps of the candidates and that the errors go beyond inadvertent mistakes.

The case will be heard from 14 January and judgement is expected to be delivered by 10 February.

By Ghanaian law, once the hearing begins, it will be sub judice to comment on the merits of the case.

Read the EC’s full response below: