My victory was ordained by God - Mahama

President John Mahama has said his victory in Ghana's 2012 presidential poll was “ordained by the Lord”.

He says the divine nature of his electoral victory is the cause of the main opposition New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) befuddlement, especially because he campaigned for just 40 days.

President Mahama made the comment when he joined Christian Worshippers of the Mount Horeb Prayer Centre at Mamfe in the Eastern Region to mark the church’s 20th anniversary on Sunday, June 23, 2013.

He is the first respondent in the ongoing election petition case in which the 2012 Presidential Candidate of the NPP, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, his running mate Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia and the party’s National Chairman Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey are challenging the election results at the Supreme Court.

The Electoral Commission and the governing National Democratic Congress are the other two respondents.

The president’s latest statement on his electoral victory is the third since the Supreme Court started hearing the matter in April.

He recently told party supporters on June 10, 2013 at the NDC’s headquarters in the national capital, Accra that he won the polls “cleanly and fairly” and therefore expressed confidence that the Supreme Court will re-affirm that victory. He took an avalanche of flak for making that statement vis-à-vis the hearing of the matter in court.

The NPP’s General Secretary, Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie, accused him of intimidating the Supreme Court with his comments.

Former President of the Ghana Bar Association, Sam Okudzeto also condemned the statement as “very very unfortunate”.

Earlier, the president had expressed similar confidence in a BBC interview.

The petitioners claim the elections were fraught with malpractices, statutory violations and gross manipulation which cannot go uncontested.

Mr. Mahama, however, remains confident that the Supreme Court will re-affirm his victory at the end of the hearing.

The court resumes sitting on Monday June 24, 2013.