Opposition NPP on fishing expedition

The on-going election petition hearing at the Supreme Court is clearly demonstrating that the NPP’s petition is based primarily on perceived administrative lapses and infractions of Electoral Commission officials during the 2012 elections and their effect on results as declared by the Electoral Commissioner. The line of complaint that has consistently been emphasized by Dr. Bawumia is that such lapses and infractions have resulted in irregularities, violations and malpractices that resulted in President Mahama being declared the winner of the elections.

The key supporting evidence of the infractions of the Electoral Commission officials as claimed by the petitioners has been the pink sheets and information on them. To Nana Akuffo Addo and the petitioners, 4.6 million votes of Ghanaians in the elections should be annulled because of these administrative infractions, lapses and errors.

The NPP and the petitioners have all along relied on a conspiracy theory to inflame passions in support of their cause. However this requires proof beyond reasonable doubt to establish a conscious effort at collision between certain key stakeholders in the election that resulted in a denial of victory to their flagbearer in the 2012 elections.

The evidence that the petitioners have so far presented to the Supreme Court however has failed to establish any conspiracy between the Electoral Commission and the winner President Mahama in the 2012 elections. What has rather emerged is a lack of good faith by the petitioners and the NPP in the initiation of this petition in the first place. It is becoming obvious that this petition is based on a strategy to go on a fishing expedition to find fault with the election results at all cost so as to overturn the true mandate of the people of Ghana in favour of an obvious loser who fails to demonstrate statesmanship in accepting defeat so that democracy can be the winner in Ghana.

The strategy is so flawed that one wonders whether the NPP and the petitioners did any serious objective analysis prior to initiating this petition in the first place.

What is the wisdom in presenting a petition which is substantially backed by pink sheet evidence from polling stations in which President Mahama won to the large exclusion of polling stations that Nana Akuffo won? How do you convince anyone to nullify million of votes largely on the basis of polling station results in areas only won by the President? Again the inference of a conspiracy theory underlines this strategy without any proof of it. Or is it a clear case of losers embarking on mischief to destabilize the Presidency of the clear winner of the people’s mandate?

Perhaps the petitioners and in general the NPP would have looked more credible if their petition was based on a request for a recount of all votes at the polling stations to support their argument that the administrative infractions and lapses did indeed affect the outcome of the results as declared as they claim. But did they have the guts to make such a request?

It appears that the introduction of biometric voting in the 2012 was the best thing that happened to elections in Ghana and the fact that to a large extent the machines worked well in majority of the polling stations is a clear indication of how successful the elections were. No amount of objections by the petitioners’ lawyers calculated at suppressing the truth would help the petitioners’ case which so far appears to be destined for failure.

The NPP as a party should quickly dissociate itself from this flawed and ill fated petition in order to save face or else it will swim in the lake of embarrassment and shame that is sure to be the destination of Nana Akuffo Addo and Dr. Bawumia.

For Dr. Bawumia, his “You and I were not there statement” exposes the weakness in his case and implies that he has no further empirical evidence on the ground to support the petition beyond the face of the pink sheets. What a shame! Ghanaians deserve an apology from these people at the end of it all because this unwarranted petition has cost the nation billions of Ghana cedis and has set a bad precedent for elections to be challenged on very flimsy grounds.

Where are the leaders and statesmen in the NPP when it is obvious that their party is being dragged down the drain by a few selfish politicians in their mist?

This whole election petition is so flawed and dead on arrival that its only rational motive can be found in an inordinate ambition of Nana Akuffo to become President at all cost even beyond the obvious outcome of the court case and at the expense of the image of his party.

God bless our Homeland Ghana.

Long live legitimate President Mahama.

Report By: Mensah Dekportor

NDC- Germany Communication Director.

Email: cmdekportor@gmail.com