Supreme Court takes 1-day break, Election Petition case continues Friday

The Supreme Court has adjourned the hearing of the Election Petition case before it to Friday, February 5, 2021.

This is after it dismissed an application from the petitioner, John Dramani Mahama, seeking for the 1st respondent, Jean Mensa who is the Electoral Commission, to produce some documents including Constituency and regional collation sheets, for inspection.

In dismissing the application on Wednesday, February 3, the Chief Justice Anin Yeboah who read the ruling on behalf of the justices said: “the proceedings so far show that the petitioner has copies of the documents which are the subject of this application. We are of the view that no proper case has been before us to warrant the exercise of our discretion in favour of the applicant.

“Order 29 of CI 47 which is the basis of this application should not be read in isolation, it should be read in conjunction with Rule 11 of the said Order.”

An application to produce another witness for the petitioner, however, is pending following an admission by Lead Counsel, Tsatsu Tsikata, that the potential witness is indisposed with health complications.

This witness, according to Mr. Tsikata, if given the opportunity to file a witness statement, will help bring some pertinent evidence and facts to help make their case.

He, however, maintained that the illness could not be disclosed to the open court though his colleagues on the other side had been informed accordingly.

All seven judges and lead counsels for the petitioner and both respondents, after this, retired to the chambers to deliberate on whether or not the said witness should be given time to file the witness statement and be cross-examined subsequently.

Justice Kwasi Anin Yeboah however adjourned the case to February 5, 2021, after deliberations in the chamber.

No official communication about the outcome has, however, been made yet.