Heavy security presence at Supreme Court as hearing begins

There is heavy security presence at the Supreme Court where the preliminary joinder motion filed by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) seeking to join the petition by the New Patriotic Party (NPP) challenging the election results would be heard.

According to Radio XYZ’s Kwame Danso Acheampong, Police personnel have been deployed to the premises to maintain law and order and to ensure that party supporters do not besiege the Supreme Court to cause confusion.

He reported that a number of heavily armed Police personnel have been placed at vantage points of the Accra High Street area and the Supreme Court premises to ensure that the court hearing goes on without any mayhem.

The NDC says it wants to join the suit because it provided the platform for President Mahama to contest the just ended elections which he won.

The party filed a supplementary affidavit to its motion to join a petition by Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, the presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, his running mate, and Mr Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey, challenging the declaration of President John Dramani Mahama as winner of the December 2012 presidential election.

The supplementary affidavit, which was filed on Wednesday and deposed to on behalf of the General Secretary of the NDC, Mr Johnson Asiedu Nketiah, said, "A denial of the applicant the opportunity to be joined so as to be heard in respect of this election would be a denial of the constitutional rights of the applicant."

According to the supplementary affidavit, the NDC had represented its interest, that of its presidential candidate and parliamentary candidates "in the deliberations of the Electoral Commission (EC) with all political parties and candidates in connection with the elections" and, for that reason, the party had the right to be joined to the petition.