Ask Nana Akua Tweneboah-Koduah
Almost from nowhere the re-counting of the pink results sheets ordered by the justices has become front and centre news dominating every activity of those following the on-going Supreme Court petition with microscopic eyes.
There seems to be some kind of apprehension from certain quarters because the outcome of the re-count will surely be a game changer in the petition initiated by the NPP to contest the outcome of the 2012 Presidential Election which was won by President John Mahama.
The NPP, led by Dr Mahamadu Bawumia who was the running mate of Nana Akufo-Addo in last year’s presidential election, have stated unequivocally that they did present affidavits covering 11,842 pink results sheets to the Supreme Court to buttress their case.
The NDC lead counsel, Mr Tsatsu Tsikata has however countered that the pink results sheets submitted by the NPP is far less than what they are claiming thus bringing the issue to where it is now: Recount. According to Nana Ato Dadzie, spokesperson for the NDC legal team, the pink sheets submitted by the NPP was 3,337 less.
Whilst the NDC is claiming that the 11,842 number being floated by the NPP was due to duplicates, triplicates and quadruplicates, the NPP still maintains that their number is what everybody should take to the bank.
The outcome of the re-count is going to bring serious implications to the court case. If the pink sheets fall short of the number being acclaimed by the NPP, Dr Bawumia and the rest of the petitioners will face serious credibility gap. Just one pink sheet short is enough to cause the petitioners a lot of anxiety.
But just imagine if it is found after the re-counting that the number is short by 1,000 or 2,000 or 3,000 and more. Imagine the uproar that will emerge from this. Or just imagine if the NPP is able to make the magic number of 11,842, the anger and demeanour that will be portrayed by their lead counsel, Mr Philip Addison. I can only imagine.
Many cases have been thrown out of court based on technicality issues. We saw that during the tenure of the late President John Mills when some high profile cases could not see the light of day as they were thrown out by judges on technical grounds.
This case by the NPP may suffer the same fate if at the end of the re-count it is proven that the NPP submitted less than 11,842 pink sheets to the Supreme Court. That will be a huge blow and trump Mr Tsikata over Dr Bawumia on the credibility landscape. It could also see the immediate death of the case and leave a lot of bleeding in the NPP quarters.
But if the re-count confirms what the NPP says, Mr Tsikata may just go on with the case as he can say that he only wanted a confirmation of the number of pink sheets submitted by the NPP. Therefore, you can deduce that the onus largely lies on the NPP than the NDC.
The way the case is heading, I can safely predict that it may not travel beyond the end of May because the NDC has been able to unearth multiple mistakes from the evidence gathered by Dr Bawumia to compel the Supreme Court to throw away over 4 million votes.
If you are claiming that mistakes led to your defeat in the election, you do not commit multiple mistakes to buttress your case. That is why Dr Bawumia may have a hard time to sell his case.
nakuakoduah@yahoo.com
