Televise NDC’s election petition hearing – Kpebu

A private legal practitioner Martin Kpebu has called for a live telecast of the election petition filed by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) at the Supreme Court against the results of the 2020 elections.

Mr Kpebu said this will help in ensuring transparency.

“We want a live telecast of the hearing so we can follow it,” he said on the Key Points programme on TV3 Saturday January 2.

“Transparency is the basis of everything. It helped immensely the last time so hopefully this time it will as well,” he told host Abena Tabi.

The Presidential Candidate of the NDC John Dramani Mahama on Wednesday December 30 filed the petition at the apex court which seeks, among other things, a rerun of the presidential elections, asking the Court for an order to restrain Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, the Second Respondent, from holding himself out as President-elect.

He refused to accept the results of the elections because in his view the figures were tampered with by the Chair of the Commission in favour of President Akufo-Addo.

Ghana’s high commissioner to Canada, Nii Ayikoi Otoo, said also on the Key Points that the NDC has a bigger responsibility to prove their case in court after filing an election petition challenging the results of the December 7 elections.

He said they will need to present an evidence to prove that no presidential candidate in the election crossed the 50+1 to win.

Mr Ayikoi Otoo told host Abena Tabi that the reliefs being requested by the petitioners differ from the initial position they took prior to the filing of the petition.

They are saying nobody crossed the 50+1. So they have a bigger responsibility in my view, to [prove]. They need to present the evidence,” he said.

The former Attorney General under the Kufuor administration added “The idea that was fed out to the public was that somebody has done something wrong and that we have won the presidential and parliamentary but if you read the petition there is a clear request for a rerun which is based upon the fact that constitutionally nobody crossed the 50+1."

“That is a different ball game altogether compared with what we were hearing before the petition was filed."

“You should be bold to say that ‘I won the election, this person did not win the election but their style is different.”