We have nothing to do but to accept Supreme Court ruling – Marietta

Former Attorney General Marietta Brew Appiah-Oppong has told journalists in Accra that the petitioner in the ongoing election petition hearing and the lawyers have nothing to do but accept the ruling of the Supreme Court to the effect that witnesses cannot be compelled to mount the witness box to testify in the case.

“The ruling is the decision of the Supreme Court of Ghana. We have nothing to do but to accept it. We disagree with the decision and so we are going to file an application for a review,” she said.

She added: “The EC is accountable to us. She has to account to how those errors occurred. When did she discover those errors? What was the process of correcting the errors?”

The Supreme Court had earlier in court told the parties involved in the case that its powers in electoral matters are limited.

To that end, the Court said it cannot compel any witness in the ongoing gearing to mount the witness box to testify.

“We are minded to state that our jurisdiction to invoke this Election Petition is a limited jurisdiction, merely circumscribed by law. We do not intend to extend our mandate as the law report requires of us in such petition before us challenging the validity of the election of a president.

“Simply put, we are not convinced by the invitation being extended to us by Counsel for the petitioner to order the respondent to enter the witness box to be cross-examined.

“Accordingly, we hereby overrule the objection moved by Counsel for the petitioner against the decision of the respondents,” the Chief Justice Anin Yeboah said in a ruling on whether or not the Chair of the Electoral Commission (EC) can mount the witness box for cross-examination.

Lawyer for the petitioner in the ongoing election petition hearing Tsatsu Tsikata, after the court ruling on Thursday, served notice to re-open his case to enable him subpoena Chair of the Electoral Commission Jean Adukwei Mensa.

Mr Tsikata told the court on Thursday, February 11 that: “We are applying to reopen our case and on that basis we are issuing a subpoena addressed to the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission of Ghana.

“We also intend to apply for a review of the ruling,” he stated.