Spare Asiedu Nketia, even some lawyers got judgement wrong – Kpebu

Private legal practitioner Martin Kpebu has defended the General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) over comments he made after the Supreme Court judgement on the new voter register.

After judgement on Thursday, June 25, in the midst of confusion among lawyers, Johnson Asiedu Nketia addressed journalists by stating that the Supreme Court judgement has vindicated the NDC.

“We feel vindicated because the [Supreme] Court itself in an earlier ruling had clearly stated that the possession of an existing voter’s ID card means the holder is a citizen of Ghana,” the former lawmaker told journalists.

He added: “We’re most grateful since this is the most substantive issue for which we came to court.”

But after the judgement was made clearer, pointing to an unequivocal dismissal of the reliefs sought by the plaintiff, the NDC, many mocked General Mosquito, as he is affectionately called.

Others blamed NDC’s legal team for allowing Mr Asiedu Nketia to speak on members’ behalf while they stood behind him.

Speaking on The Key Points on TV3/3FM on Saturday, lawyer Martin Kpebu said the General Secretary of the NDC should be spared the ridicule.

“Asiedu Nketia is a layman,” he stated. “I don’t want to lay anything against him.”

The private legal practitioner said even other lawyers got the interpretation wrong, from his monitoring of their commentary in the media.

But a Deputy Attorney General, Godfred Dame, speaking in a phone-in on the programme, said the comments by Mr Asiedu Nketia were “unwarranted” as he was in court when the judgement was read out.