Election Petition: Hearing begins today

The Supreme Court will today commence hearing into the landmark petition in which three leading members of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) are challenging the declaration by the Electoral Commission (EC) of John Dramani Mahama as president in the December 7 and 8, 2012 general elections.

The court was due to fix a definite date for the main petition to commence when National Democratic Congress (NDC) supporters filed applications in droves to ask the court to allow them to join the petition.

Once the application numbering about 40, filed by close to 500 NDC members, have been given a return date (March 14), the court will have no option but to dispose them off before anything meaningful can be done in the case.

The three petitioners, NPP presidential candidate Nana Akuffo-Addo, his running mate Dr Mahamudu Bawumia and the party’s Chairman Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey, have already filed an application for directions in setting out the memorandum of issues in the petition.

Attempted Delay

The joinder applications by the NDC supporters are seen as a ploy to delay the court process. Some legal experts are of the view that once the applicants have the same averments, it is most likely the court will select one of the applications and use it as a test case, after which the decision on that application will apply for the rest.

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.