Ghana is not Kenya but then...

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Marin 12 years ago

You failed to touch on the biggest difference between the two. The Kenyan constitution provides a time limit for the petitions to be dealt with and quickly before the swearing in. Our constitution doesn't have such a provisio ...
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You failed to touch on the biggest difference between the two. The Kenyan constitution provides a time limit for the petitions to be dealt with and quickly before the swearing in. Our constitution doesn't have such a provision. If the Kenyan constitution had not provided a time limit - the lawyers there will be behaving exactly like their Ghanaian counterparts!
Gina 12 years ago

Why the comparison with Kenya anyway? Have you guys read the news from that country after the Supreme Court verdict? Violence has escalated in some parts of that country, leaving two people dead and others injured. Lets deal ...
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Why the comparison with Kenya anyway? Have you guys read the news from that country after the Supreme Court verdict? Violence has escalated in some parts of that country, leaving two people dead and others injured. Lets deal with our problems and stop the comparison.
Ike - London 12 years ago

The decision by the Ghana SC to "pass on responsibility to the squabbling lawyers"to agree was simply child's play, a waste of time and embarrassing to the Ghana Supreme Court.

The decision by the Ghana SC to "pass on responsibility to the squabbling lawyers"to agree was simply child's play, a waste of time and embarrassing to the Ghana Supreme Court.
Lone Ranger 12 years ago

the other big difference is that while in kenya the petitioner was asking the court to recount and let him have his valid votes due him, in Ghana the petitioner is asking legitimate votes to be annulled for him to be preside ...
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the other big difference is that while in kenya the petitioner was asking the court to recount and let him have his valid votes due him, in Ghana the petitioner is asking legitimate votes to be annulled for him to be president. this will mean that even though the petitioner was not voted for, he wants the results of his competitor to be annulled. on the streets and in radio stations NPP lies that the EC rigged the election or Mahama stole the election. yet when they go to court they are silent on all these. no mention was made about "blatant and systematic rigging" or stealing in their petition. sometimes NPP make me laugh. when the votes were being counted the campaign coordinator of nana Addo, issued a statement about how well the elections were going on and that things shd be left as they were. the chief comedian sir john said a day before the elections were announced that NPP shd wear white cloths and go to church cos NPP had won the election. before the declaration of the results, jake held a press conference and said there was systematic rigging/stealing in savelugu, dome kwabenya, and ledzokuku. when all these lies and deception fell like a pack of cards, they went to court to say there were irregularities! how funny!
eh 12 years ago

no comparison was made with respect to petition in the both cases,so come again.

no comparison was made with respect to petition in the both cases,so come again.
Kofi Ata, Cambridge, UK 12 years ago

"Though the similarities are clear, in so far as they both sought to overturn an election declaration that is where it ends". Your above statement is as accurate as it could be. However, to follow this statement and recount s ...
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"Though the similarities are clear, in so far as they both sought to overturn an election declaration that is where it ends". Your above statement is as accurate as it could be. However, to follow this statement and recount some or all of the negatives causing delay from the respondents without a single one from the petitioners is disingenuous on your part. Are you suggesting that, as far as timing is concerned, the petitioners and their representatives have not contributed to the delay in hearing and deciding on the petition before the Supreme Court (SC)?

In my view, we would be wrong to make a 100 percent comparison between the two petitions, though Ghana can learn lessons from the Kenyan experience. The real problem in the case of the Ghanaian presidential petition is the lack of leadership by the nine Justices on the panel. The Justices could stop the the delays if they take leadership of the case management and direct the parties involved with clear time limited instructions.

As we all know, the real culprit in the time wasting (as I mentioned in my article last Sunday), is the failure of the Ghanaian Constitution to specify the time frame for dealing with election petitions as well as failure by Ghanaians, especially politicians and civil society organisations to close this loophole in the constitution following parliamentary election petitions that experienced long delays and in most cases after the 4-year time had expired. As a result some of the successful petitioners had no recourse to any remedy as they suffered irreparable damages. Until that lacuna is cured Ghanaians can only pray and hope that the Justices will and Judges of future election petitions would serve justice by expediting action to ensure speedy hearings and decisions.

The decision of the Chief Justice to recuse herself from this case is unprecedented. I suspect she did it because of her family association with a leading member of the NPP (by way of her sister's marriage). That in my view is sad and unacceptable. As Chief Justice, Her Lordship Georgina Wood must be able to show that she is above family or party politics and act as she is required to as Head of the Judiciary. How on earth she decided to exclude herself from the panel hearing the most important constitutional case in Ghana's history is anyone's guess? Is she going to dodge any case involving NDC and NPP that goes to the SC just because her sister is married to a leading member of NPP? In that case, she better resigns because she is indirectly saying that the conflict of interest is such that she is unable to effectively discharge the duties of the office of the Chief Justice.

Another lesson that you failed to mention and for which Ghanaians must learn from Kenya, is for all parties to accept the decision of the SC whenever that decision comes.
Ern 12 years ago

I agree with your comment, however I do not think it is sad and unacceptable that the Chief Justice excluded herself from proceedings. I know that the law is supposed to be fair and balanced, however from your comments, it wo ...
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I agree with your comment, however I do not think it is sad and unacceptable that the Chief Justice excluded herself from proceedings. I know that the law is supposed to be fair and balanced, however from your comments, it would appear there is (or could be perceived to be) a conflict of interest, and therefore I can understand her action to extract herself from a potentially flamable situation. Knowing Ghanaians, imagine the uproar from the NDC ranks if she holds in favour of NPP in the light of her sister's marriage. Regardless of whether she is impartial or not, there will be a lot of Ghanaians and NDC sympathisers who will view her as biased if she rules in favour of NPP.
Nyansa 12 years ago

Em, thank you for that piece. You will recall when the lawyers of the petitioners raised issues regarding the family relations of appointments of the President who were sitting on the panelto judge the case? The NDC were gear ...
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Em, thank you for that piece. You will recall when the lawyers of the petitioners raised issues regarding the family relations of appointments of the President who were sitting on the panelto judge the case? The NDC were gearing up to reveal other relations of top politicians who were also Judges on the panel. The best the CJ did was to exclude herself which was the best decision.
ECOMINI 12 years ago

The chief justice took the best decision not to sit on this case. A judge worth his/her salt knows when to take up a case and when not. She has done the right thing. I salute her.

The chief justice took the best decision not to sit on this case. A judge worth his/her salt knows when to take up a case and when not. She has done the right thing. I salute her.
ECOMINI 12 years ago

What is unprecedented about the chief justice not sitting on this case. There are about 13 supreme court judges. 9 are on this panel. She does not necessarily have to sit on this case. Justice Atuguba has been on the court fo ...
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What is unprecedented about the chief justice not sitting on this case. There are about 13 supreme court judges. 9 are on this panel. She does not necessarily have to sit on this case. Justice Atuguba has been on the court for a long time he must show us that he is worth his salt!!!!

SIMON BETURE 12 years ago

WHY ALL THIS COMPARISON WITH KENYA. ALL OF A SUDDEN AN AFRICAN POLITICIAN WHOMIS JEALOUS OF A WINNER GOES TO COURT. THE RESULT WAS OBVIOUS AND THE COURT DISMISSED HIM TO GO AND FIND ANOTHER JOB. REMEMBER THAT THE NPP STARTED ...
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WHY ALL THIS COMPARISON WITH KENYA. ALL OF A SUDDEN AN AFRICAN POLITICIAN WHOMIS JEALOUS OF A WINNER GOES TO COURT. THE RESULT WAS OBVIOUS AND THE COURT DISMISSED HIM TO GO AND FIND ANOTHER JOB. REMEMBER THAT THE NPP STARTED COMPLAINING EVEN BEFORE THE VOTES WERE COUNTED.NTHEY WENT TO HOUSE AND CLAIMED THAT SOME COMPUTERS WERE BEING USED TO MANIPULATE THE RESULTS. THEY ASKED THEIR SUPPORTERS TO GO AND CELEBRATE WHEN THE RESULTS WERE STILL UNKNOWN. SO AN ATMOSPHERE WAS ALREADY CREATED THAT NEEDS TO BE CONSIDERED. BUT WHO ARE ALL THESE BOOK LONG PEOPLE WHO ARE WRITING AND THINKING THAT THEY ARE WISER THAN THE JUSTICES IN GHANA. LET THEM DO THEIR JOB AND STOP THINKING THAT THEY ARE INTENTIONALLY DELAYING THE PROCESS. WHY ARE SOME PEOPLE IN A HURRY TO GO TO THE FLAGSTAFF HOUSE. LET THEM WAIT THE JUDGES ARE BUSY LOOKING ATMTHE PINK SHEETS
shamu 12 years ago

How many times shall we remain to be talking about Kenya? Even though they have the same problem like us, but in really sense, the problem are of different magnitude. That of Ghana is the worse of all Africans. I know my Ghan ...
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How many times shall we remain to be talking about Kenya? Even though they have the same problem like us, but in really sense, the problem are of different magnitude. That of Ghana is the worse of all Africans. I know my Ghanaian colleagues may not like to hear this, simply because they are totally in dark. They have eyes but can not see. they have legs, but can not walk. What type of people are we Ghanaians? The only thind I know of Ghanaians is to talk talk talk with out going any hwhere simply because of their wickedness.
Matthew 12 years ago

Sorry,but there are huge differences.Ghana ( SC ) should chart it's own course.

Sorry,but there are huge differences.Ghana ( SC ) should chart it's own course.
Agyem 12 years ago

Its not just matters of justice.Yes,the kenyans have twice cleared house by removing unfit justices and having public vetting of judges.But it occurs to me they are also better at building a successful airline,their cities ar ...
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Its not just matters of justice.Yes,the kenyans have twice cleared house by removing unfit justices and having public vetting of judges.But it occurs to me they are also better at building a successful airline,their cities are more organised,they're disciplined runners,their military is more disciplined with no coup history and they have built an enviable economy on a non mineral base.Could it be cultural differences between GH & kenya that also manifest in matters of jurisprudence?.So whats wrong with us Ghanaians?
Gyambibi 12 years ago

Ghanaians have never gone on the rampage with political opponents killing each other by the thousands after a disputed election. You overlooked that difference.

Ghanaians have never gone on the rampage with political opponents killing each other by the thousands after a disputed election. You overlooked that difference.
TNC 12 years ago

mr.Hayford,
if you were a judge, would you be fair to a voter, with respect to his constitutional right to vote, to annul his vote,on the basis that,a mechanical device failed to recognise him, when there existed other means ...
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mr.Hayford,
if you were a judge, would you be fair to a voter, with respect to his constitutional right to vote, to annul his vote,on the basis that,a mechanical device failed to recognise him, when there existed other means of identification ?Think about it.
Green. 12 years ago

But it is often said that in Kenya you do not have to hire a lawyer to win a case when you can easily buy a judge. This saying is not present in Ghana.

But it is often said that in Kenya you do not have to hire a lawyer to win a case when you can easily buy a judge. This saying is not present in Ghana.
KWAME 12 years ago

this is true but tell me why did the EC. refused some voters in some constituencies to vote when that mechanical device failed to recognize them. but allowed others to vote in other constituencies when the the same mechanica ...
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this is true but tell me why did the EC. refused some voters in some constituencies to vote when that mechanical device failed to recognize them. but allowed others to vote in other constituencies when the the same mechanical device fail to recognize them. are we not all Ghanians?
insight to the bone 12 years ago

Center to all this corruption now is the ewe tribalism that has a stranglehold on the ndc and now most of the state agencies that are to combat this menace. yes corruption exists in all countries but ours has become more noto ...
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Center to all this corruption now is the ewe tribalism that has a stranglehold on the ndc and now most of the state agencies that are to combat this menace. yes corruption exists in all countries but ours has become more notorious than the nigerian , during kuffuor's time it was know he and his cronies would try and secure a 0.5 to 5% commission now ndc is known for not less than 20% going up all the way to 200 300 or even 500% . loans achieve even parliamentary approval are withdrawn as business wise it just doesnt make sense. the civil service especial ministry of finance has turned into a money grabbing arm twisting mafia that up to 3 years ago would frustrate any endeavor undertook en if one would not pay , in short the process would move at a snails pace . the last couple of years if you dont pay your files and docs would go missing or you would eventually be accused of defrauding the state or some other fabricated heinous crime and end up with the bni , police or some other agency of repression fighting for your life. in short would take by force from you what you did not willingly give.Some now advocate for JJ methods of dealing with this system of doom, but rawlings style of governance can never come back as the revolution propaganda and media hype was nothing but a sophisticated cover and camouflage of the ewe persecution of the Akans mainly the ashantis as by the end of the Acheampong era most govt institutions and factories were being managed by Ashantis, today most are in the hands of northerners , Gas and ewes so to clean up the babies and fruits of the revolution with another is impossible , the only solution is now a civil war . now tribalistically speaking without being accused again of chauvinism or Akan nationalism we have a situation whereby this alliance of the ewes , part of the gas and northerners , that is less than 15 % of the population by varios means of election engineering , rigging divide and rule now are looting as quickly as they can all the wealth of the nation as they know this can not last forever . unfortunately when they are done we shall be left with a war and no future for our children due to our own laziness to see the truth for what it really is . here is a govt so busy with their cover up for the SADA that not a single minister or leader to come out this Easter with a message of hope as their hearts are filled with so much evil and hate . yes this govt will leave one day for sure despised and hated by the people , never to come back again.
Ketaboy 12 years ago

Do you have any sense at all? You have NORTHENER for President and a FANTI for Vice-President, where is the EWE in this? You have a GA Chief Justice. Just think before spewing pure hatred and nonsense.

Do you have any sense at all? You have NORTHENER for President and a FANTI for Vice-President, where is the EWE in this? You have a GA Chief Justice. Just think before spewing pure hatred and nonsense.

insight to the bone 12 years ago

they are not in control of anything , you check for yourself and find out what the truth is before talking here

they are not in control of anything , you check for yourself and find out what the truth is before talking here
Baffour 12 years ago

Are we looking for fair or rushed justice? The writer only tackled respondents and woefully refused or failed to touch on the attitude of the petitioners. Who started this all? The same petitioners have demonstrated distrust ...
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Are we looking for fair or rushed justice? The writer only tackled respondents and woefully refused or failed to touch on the attitude of the petitioners. Who started this all? The same petitioners have demonstrated distrust in the Supreme Court and the EC. Fair justice no matter how long it takes, is prefferred to rushed and faulty justice.
Akuffo Addo 12 years ago

The petitioners amendment to their writ was not mentioned.

The petitioners amendment to their writ was not mentioned.
Nyansa 12 years ago

Baffour, absolutely right. The writer only treated the respondents. They started after filling petition and sought to undermine some of the Judges not to sit on the case, then withdrew that. Then sought to amend their earlier ...
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Baffour, absolutely right. The writer only treated the respondents. They started after filling petition and sought to undermine some of the Judges not to sit on the case, then withdrew that. Then sought to amend their earlier petition from 4000, and over polling stations to over 11,000 polling stations in order to annul over 4m votes. Is it the respondents who started all these? So why do you want the Supreme court to run like an express train? Let our Judges do their job. This is Ghana not Kenya.
OMANNI ASARE 12 years ago

Slow tactics in ghana institution killed our three HIGH COURT JUDGES in 1979,when Rawlings first coup failed and was captured if there was any speedy punishment our three JUDGES will be alive today,now i realized i can not po ...
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Slow tactics in ghana institution killed our three HIGH COURT JUDGES in 1979,when Rawlings first coup failed and was captured if there was any speedy punishment our three JUDGES will be alive today,now i realized i can not point any finger on Rawlings but to themselves.
Chabba 12 years ago

Atta, your article is very poignant and insightful. Mahama and his henchmen know in their hearts that they used fraudulent means to win the election hence their delay and diversionary tactics. The irony is that John Mahama is ...
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Atta, your article is very poignant and insightful. Mahama and his henchmen know in their hearts that they used fraudulent means to win the election hence their delay and diversionary tactics. The irony is that John Mahama is supposed to be a good honest Christian living above reproach or is he making mockery of Christianity? John Mahama was so obsessed in becoming President of Ghana that he said people should vote without ID as well as making very divisive and tribalistic statements unheard of from anyone aspiring to rule Ghana----you remember he went to the Upper West and told them to vote for him because he is a Northerner and their brother and Northerners deserve to be Presidents instead of Vice Presidents? Yes that was John Mahama who wants to rule Ghana at all cost! Ghana deserves better than this!
Luther king 12 years ago

name one diversionary tactic that was used by mahama and his team. all the delays have been at the instance of our ppl. the absurd decision to contest the enpanelling of the SC, the withdrawal of the earlier pertition with a ...
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name one diversionary tactic that was used by mahama and his team. all the delays have been at the instance of our ppl. the absurd decision to contest the enpanelling of the SC, the withdrawal of the earlier pertition with a new one, objecting to ndc joinder etc. im my candid opinion, this court case shd not have been started in the first place. lets rebuild this party for future elections and stop quarelling over spilled milk. elections are won at polling stations and not in court.
WO 12 years ago

You.stupid. Who said 'yen akan fuo' Ashantis should hit the heads of the Gas and the Ewes? Be honest and the whole world.

You.stupid. Who said 'yen akan fuo' Ashantis should hit the heads of the Gas and the Ewes? Be honest and the whole world.
Kwame 12 years ago

We have an absurdity and that applies to those who are challenging the December 7 - 8 December, 2012 general elections.
The judges of the Supreme Court and petitioners are well aware themselves that nobody voted without bei ...
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We have an absurdity and that applies to those who are challenging the December 7 - 8 December, 2012 general elections.
The judges of the Supreme Court and petitioners are well aware themselves that nobody voted without being certified by a biometric voting machine. A few days after the elections, elder, responsible and respected persons in the Ghanaian community told the whole world that in spite of not identified after several try they were not allowed to vote without being identified by the finger print identification machine.
From the above we deduce at once that nobody was allowed to vote without his or her index finger being identified by the machine to be is own and that he or she registered as a voter.
The New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the parties contesting the eligibility of the 7 - 8 December, 2012 General Elections have and had their agents at all the polling stations. None of those agents have filed a challenge form to state that the voting and counting in which they supervised and approved does not represent what actually took place during the elections.
It all started when Mr. Kwadwo Marfo and some members of the NPP begun to accuse some telecommunication company, rather than Vodafone which fax and email system the Ghana Electoral Commission use to send result to the regions and headquarters in Accra of tampering with results, results that they had already and were already announced by some radio stations.
There is a move to disqualify some tribes that the NPP see to be inferior as was the case when Kennedy Agyapong called on Akans to kill Ewhes and Ghas with the courts hijacked by their political friends in at the bar.
The absurdity is that there is no superior tribe in Ghana and that is what the Supreme Court if under an illusion must wake-up from.
Ern 12 years ago

If the Kenyan system is so good, why did they not use it in the last election before this one? Why did they fall into civil unrest? The only reason why it worked in Kenya this time is because they wanted to make sure that the ...
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If the Kenyan system is so good, why did they not use it in the last election before this one? Why did they fall into civil unrest? The only reason why it worked in Kenya this time is because they wanted to make sure that they did not have a repeat of the violence. I prefer Ghana to have our "Go Slow" system as long as we remain peaceful and understanding!!

Afrifa Frimpong. 12 years ago

Peace without justice is hollow.Benjamin Franklin once said "those who give up essential liberties in return for temporary peace deserve neither peace nor liberty"

Peace without justice is hollow.Benjamin Franklin once said "those who give up essential liberties in return for temporary peace deserve neither peace nor liberty"
Ern 12 years ago

Afrifa, who says we do not have justice? We have peace and we have justice, its just that the justice appears to be slow; and immediately, Ghanaians are saying we should copy Kenya.
Furthermore, what do you classify as justi ...
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Afrifa, who says we do not have justice? We have peace and we have justice, its just that the justice appears to be slow; and immediately, Ghanaians are saying we should copy Kenya.
Furthermore, what do you classify as justice? We are not oppressed in Ghana the way they are in North Korea. We have got our problems, but then everyone has. There really is no difference between our politicians in NPP or NDC, so will you prefer violence in order for one or the other of these parties to rule?
Abeeku Mensah 12 years ago

Ah yet another phony comparative analysis by Ghanaians in the Diaspora. Each time we have had some of the Ghanaians in the Diaspora attempt to interject their rather low analytical or comparative skills at all things politica ...
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Ah yet another phony comparative analysis by Ghanaians in the Diaspora. Each time we have had some of the Ghanaians in the Diaspora attempt to interject their rather low analytical or comparative skills at all things political in Ghana, they never fail to expose themselves through the same tribal and political party crap that runs through their veins as their counterparts here at home.
We are at political cross roads in Ghana precisely because we have two major parties in Ghana that draw their strength and ideas from members of their mickey mouse clubs in the Diaspora where greed is relative and moral equivalency is measured on a tribal yardstick. Check Ghana's history and you will find that NPP of today from its very roots in the UP/"matemeho" era never accepted any results (voting or appointments) unless and until they were the winners. What do you call such people or people with that kind of character trait?
SUMBRUNGU 12 years ago

I can't bring myself to imagine how the Supreme court won't take an instructive page from the juggement ofthe Kenyan supreme court and draw feom its persuasive conclusions in deciding on the NPP petition but would rather seek ...
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I can't bring myself to imagine how the Supreme court won't take an instructive page from the juggement ofthe Kenyan supreme court and draw feom its persuasive conclusions in deciding on the NPP petition but would rather seek to usurp the will of the people in deciding their leaders by prononcing a clearly vanquished person as president. As my people like to say 'like fire go burn Ghana'.

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Ghana is not Kenya but then...

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