Supreme Court must not overly delay or rush election petition – Lecturer

The Supreme Court must strike a balance in relation to time with respect to the presidential election petition currently before it.

The apex court should ensure that whiles seeking to adjudicate within the 42-day time frame, as contained in relevant constitutional instruments, there are no concerns of overly rushing the process.

Benjamin Okyere Ankrah, a lecturer at the Central University in Accra, made the comments whiles contributing to an Accra-based radio Peace FM’s morning show program.

“As at today, we have used about 23 days, the court also says it should reach a judgment within 42 days, so if they are working within the time, it will help.

“That doesn’t mean that if there is an issue that needs further explanation, they will insist on looking away due to the time factor. Let’s see how we strike the balance. That we don’t overly delay or overly rush, so that we can all have equity and everyone will be at peace,” he stressed.

On the substantive case, Day 22 (January 20) ended with the court giving orders on issues for the trial and timelines to be followed. The substantive hearing will begin on Tuesday January 26.

The academic further cautioned parties – petitioners and respondents – that court cases never results in ties. But that winners and losers should always act in ways consistent with the law.

Lawyers for the petitioner, John Dramani Mahama, have disagreed with recent rulings of the court relative to three applications that they have made; the respondents have on the other hand expressed willingness to work with all directions issued so far. The respondents are the Electoral Commission and President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.