News

Sports

Business

Entertainment

GhanaWeb TV

Africa

Opinions

Country

NPP cherry picks for petition

Sun, 16 Jun 2013 Source: Doe, James W.

It turned out that the much touted "analysis" was no analysis after all, but involved ordinary counting just like in every election that humans had undertaken for centuries since the ancient Arabs/Egyptians created numerals.

In the papaya or "pawpaw" analysis of NPP. The whole country was shot into the realm of absolutes and altruism. Just in the same way as we were told zero was not a number.

The cherry picking avoided the necessary "control" that lawyer Tsikata alluded to, which would have resulted in a sound judgement even before filing the petition. Hence, the make of bitter losers.

To say that every cherry tree bares fruit or a red cherry fruit is ripe when you are not a farmer is could be wrong. This was sadly the case of the NPP. The cherry farmers of Japan in the town of Sagae, Yamagata Prefecture where they grow the best cherries and in fact all Japanese know there is "sakuranbo" the fruit tree and "hanami" the cherry blossom or flowery trees.

Just as not every pawpaw tree bares pawpaw fruit in Ghana and there is a reason for that. So, if it is not your field of expertise you could not say you know best. The EC had the institutional mandate and track record without complaints from the field did a remarkable job against all odds and rightly so deserve the praise.

This could become a thought process that appeals to only lords over the people, a demigod and sometimes superiority complex afflicted persons. Although, we were made to believe that the so-called analysis was consistent with the test of scientific analogy.

It had been proven time and again through the slugged but meticulous and most consequential cross-examination of lawyer Tsikata that the evidence of so-called "pink sheets only" was too scattered such that it could not portray relevance on any graph. Mind you just as was revealed in the arduous cross-examination by lawyer Tsikata, the issues of no signature, no serial number, no verification, over voting, ghost polling stations, later to errors, omissions, be it irregularities and later on double registration were all debunked by Dr. Afari-Djan. He lectured all about the intricacies that will make it a tall order for these to have the slightest chance to have occurred in any extent that could not have been eliminated or considered by the EC.

There were to many flaws in the affidavits, methodology, sampling and results provided by the petitioners to the extent that they believed at one stage that the only remedy will be sticking to pink sheets standing alone will save them from the agony of getting the results they envisaged.

In effect the pink sheet demagoguery also became "the final person/witness/affidavit," in the subjective case of the NPP. To the extent that Dr. Bawumia aka "Dr. Pink sheet" insisted on numerous occasions in his response to lawyer Tsikata that since "you and I were not there," the evidence is solely from the pink sheets. "I was not there so I can only go on the pink sheet."

Among the over a dozen objections by the counsel for the petitioners lawyer Addison aka lawyer "Objection," will not all counting to be done, no witnesses should be interviewed, no need for control polling stations i.e. Asokwa, Kedjetia, etc., were enabled and mislabeling of pink sheets by petitioners was okay in his judgement.

Just as duplication, sometimes quadrupling exhibits will be ignored and so on and so forth. To the extent that the whole court process will be pro bono and a semblance of corporate social responsibility to Ghana by KPMG. When the infamous counting of pinks sheets of polling stations presented to court was purported to be 11,916 later modified to 11,842 admittedly for ultimate contention was affirmed to be 11, 138 prior to counting even by the Wednesday before the count the respondents noted there were even up to 11,000 polling stations and by the end of audit by KPMG it was 13,900.

From the above premise the whole country had been propelled into a faceless faceoff in the Supreme Court (SC) of Ghana. Where lies the truth? Is it prudent to continue with the case?

By Day 32 the same Addison in the SC voiced the insurmountable and inexcusable statement that he did not "trust all the respondents a bit" implying to the world even prejudicially saying that even if the SC judgement would not go his way hence, it was a fuss. Wow Ghana! On Thursday, court Day 33 lawyer Addison had become hopeless and incapacitated in court as for the losing battle staring at his face, so he had to result to the old trick of the NPP "all die be die." "Call them names." Did I hear him say "financial loss to the state" here, in an attempt to intimidate Dr. Kwadwo Afari-Djan and by default castigate lawyer Tsikata? Everyone knows about past NPP jailing of institutional heads in this country. Was the matter in court about procurement? What a sad day in the annals of Ghana history?

The petitioners are changing their case with the weather in fact they float like a paper to where the wind will take them each day. The case has never been solid and will never be which ever way you look at it. They seem to be waiting for a miracle, to say everything and anything so that something will click and destroy the respondents in a hopeful game of a large tornado striking. Really! Could this happen? This is the EC which have done this job for two decades. So, even as an economist myself I will not dare to irresponsibly challenge Dr. Afari-Djan in this manner, knowing very well he relied on the constitution, laws, guidelines, IPAC rules and MOUs working in tandem with all political parties and delivered the best ever elections in Ghana's history.

The 2012 elections and electoral process overall was not held in a vacuum like the NPP would want us to believe that, they did not even receive an electoral register.

How could this be a party then? The NPP have forgotten that there were other five political parties involved. Could these also say the same thing? And the election was held by a bona fide state institution which has become historically, incrementally with impeccable record and foremost institution with international recognition second, probably only to the Black Stars. The SC had to make prompt decisions to be fair, firm and objective all the way, which led to a decision to allow a control count which sounds more scientific and reasonable in the circumstances. The KPMG after Day 33 have said they would not be pushed, harassed or pressured into speeding up the count since they will need over a week to complete the job.

My humble suggestion to this bread of NPP leaders is that they should be careful not cut their nose to spite their face. If they are already in the drain they should flow quietly in the abyss.

Instead of the unfettered attempt to bring major state institutions; Ghana Law, Supreme Court, the Presidency, the Electoral Commission, Security Service, International Audit (KPMG), State Broadcaster, etc., into disrepute and hamper the development of Ghana.

Columnist: Doe, James W.