Supreme court decision - democracy in action?

Read Comments Comments (9)

• Kwobia,Toronto 12 years ago

  All politicians need to trim their egos and put the interest of the country first.But as we see the events unfolding in Washington,USA,that is easier said than done.

  All politicians need to trim their egos and put the interest of the country first.But as we see the events unfolding in Washington,USA,that is easier said than done.

  reply
• Mankind 12 years ago

  The present E.C will NOT fix the problems you listed above. This is how he manipulates election for his party. His an expert in nullifying votes in Ashanti, Eastern and Western regions. And absolutely, NONE in the Volta, Nort ...
  read full comment

  The present E.C will NOT fix the problems you listed above. This is how he manipulates election for his party. His an expert in nullifying votes in Ashanti, Eastern and Western regions. And absolutely, NONE in the Volta, Northern and the Upper West!! This the diabolic plan the E.C has been implementing all along! Remember the 2008 elections? 550,000 (five hundred and fifty)voted were nullified in these regions to force a run-off, which Mills won by 40,000 votes?? Be fair with your conscience y'all, who really won that elections? Afari Gyan is a sworn hater of Akufo Addo!! He says it privately that as long as he remain the E.C, he will never allow Nana to be president. He is succeeding or has succeeded!! Justice Dotse in the recent S.C judgment commented that the E.C needs serious reforms. What did Tsakata and K. Nketia say? We don't need any reforms" Which means that the status quo is Okay! The broken system works for our party!! Don't touch it!!

  reply
• KING 12 years ago

  THAT IS VERY TRUE.

  THAT IS VERY TRUE.

  reply
• Yaw Ohemeng 12 years ago

  You have taken a rather simplistic view of the issues at stake.
  
  We require both administrative and legislative and probably constitutional reforms in our electoral system. The issues exposed during the petition are not so ...
  read full comment

  You have taken a rather simplistic view of the issues at stake.
  
  We require both administrative and legislative and probably constitutional reforms in our electoral system. The issues exposed during the petition are not so trivial as to be cured by what you are suggesting.
  
  After the SC ruling, our electoral laws, instead of becoming clearer, have been muddled. We need reforms to repair the damage caused by the Court.
  
  We now do not know how we authenticate results – should it be by polling agents or presiding officers?
  
  We do not know how to ascertain voters’ identity – should it be via finger printing through the BVDs or just by presenting a voter’s ID card?
  
  We do not know whether there is a phenomena called over-voting or is it ballot stuffing and how we do we detect that? If we manage to detect, what happens?
  
  With regards to duplicate serial numbers, some judges were inclined to grant that claim if laws existed to that effect. It presents a major risk to the integrity of elections if we do not legislate to the effect that Results Forms should have unique serial numbers similar to ballot papers. Further, if we decide to continue to use BVDs to ascertain identity of voters, they also need to have their serial numbers recorded together with the polling station to which each was assigned.
  
  Whilst common decency will suggest that no reforms are required, the administrative processes that attend elections need to be backed by clearer laws, so that when such lapses occur in future, we are not scratching our heads for ‘purposive’ interpretations. We need to clarify the rules and the consequences if we fall foul of them. It would be chaotic for 2016 if nothing is done.

  reply
• Akwadaa_Nyame 12 years ago

  Twisting facts consistently. How can a seemingly intelligent person make this ststement:With regards to duplicate serial numbers, some judges were inclined to grant that claim if laws existed to that effect. The fact of the m ...
  read full comment

  Twisting facts consistently. How can a seemingly intelligent person make this ststement:With regards to duplicate serial numbers, some judges were inclined to grant that claim if laws existed to that effect. The fact of the matter is that NO LAWS exist frowing on their use,so why should these Judges, you place so much reliance on,be taken seriously?
  Unless you and the sore losers want to suggest that the EC,for purely whimsical reasons,decides to support a particular candidate and party!
  Look,the sooner some of you give up on this useless 'crusade' to impugn the intergrity and discount the good work of the EC,the better off we would be us a country. While you and other 'bad faith' commentators continue to indulge in mere speculation and pure fantasy,you choose to ignore the obvious attempt made by the petitioners to annul votes in their opponents backyard in oreder to subvert the clear will of the majority. For me, that is the recipe for disaster we should all fight against!

  reply
• Yaw Ohemeng 12 years ago

  I am persisting because I care about the success of democracy in my country. Elections with errors (whether inadvertent or deliberate) affecting over 40% of results can be described as credible. It does not matter whether you ...
  read full comment

  I am persisting because I care about the success of democracy in my country. Elections with errors (whether inadvertent or deliberate) affecting over 40% of results can be described as credible. It does not matter whether you are NPP or NDC.
  
  Let us leave things as they are and I bet you come 2016, there will be massive errors in favour of the petitioners in their strongholds. That is the law of the jungle that we all want to avoid.
  
  I am a professional of good standing who has made a lot in life, due to God's grace. I do not need politics to survive but I will revel in my country getting it right. That is the cause of my persistence.
  
  The problem in Ghana is that a lot of people are used to things being done badly and are prepared to waive them aside. Yes to some of us it is a crusade to get us to do the right things. Then maybe, the abject poverty that is our lot will abate.

  reply
• Nii Ashitey 12 years ago

  Yaw, what was determined by the sc was based on the facts and not on methodology or definitions but what happened on the ground.You seem to suggest that if on the face of the pink sheet,there appears over voting but which is ...
  read full comment

  Yaw, what was determined by the sc was based on the facts and not on methodology or definitions but what happened on the ground.You seem to suggest that if on the face of the pink sheet,there appears over voting but which is contrary to what happened on the day,it should be determined as over voting.Even though the whole country saw the transparency in counting prior to the security of the box and safeguards in the whole process.
  
  Notwithstanding the transparency of the process and the open counting you would have wished the judges to determine their decision on the face of the pink sheet.What logic is that.which of the two methods is fairer the one on the face of the pink sheet or the one that was seen by the whole country and international observers including the press even those hostile to the ndc as the true picture on the day.
  
  The attempt at securing power through the back door was thwarted by common sense.The accusation that the npp was trying to win through technicalities has been justified by your continued disagreement of how most of the judges came to their decision.Any other way would have been a travesty of justice and an affront to common sense.

  reply
• Yaw Ohemeng 12 years ago

  Nii you might be right but we should leave it to speculation or that it never happens again in future? At least 4 judges accepted that the petition had merit. This is not an insignificant number for flaws to be ignored for fu ...
  read full comment

  Nii you might be right but we should leave it to speculation or that it never happens again in future? At least 4 judges accepted that the petition had merit. This is not an insignificant number for flaws to be ignored for future elections.
  
  In all that I have been writing, people have misconstrued my intentions are in favour of the NPP. My interest is in my country becoming even more democratic. If that makes me an NPP supporter, why not? I can foresee election outcomes being problematic if we do not fix flaws whether at polling stations or on the face of pink sheets.
  
  I work in an industry where we do not leave issues to speculation. Any flaw, however, insignificant, if not fixed can lead to significant problems. Maybe that is why I am persistent but I am not the only one. The likes of Kofi Annan are calling for same. Is he an NPP supporter?

  reply
• Kobena 12 years ago

  "Personally I feel we Ghanaians are missing the point. We have elections to elect leaders who can pursue our national and the people interest. Are we getting the right leaders? It seems from Rawlings through Kuffour, Mills an ...
  read full comment

  "Personally I feel we Ghanaians are missing the point. We have elections to elect leaders who can pursue our national and the people interest. Are we getting the right leaders? It seems from Rawlings through Kuffour, Mills and Mahama our leadership is getting worse. Life in Ghana is getting harder for the average citizen. Politicians and public officers are abusing our financial and natural resources with impunity. Dr. Sikpa-Nyankey(Mabey & Johnson) is the CEO of Ghana Natural Gas Company. Mr Moctar Bamba(NPP) is a national organizer. Mr. Mubarak (NDC) is a parliamentarian. Mrs. Betty Mould-Iddrissu is hanging around and waiting for a "
  
  Kwamena, it is precisely because we have a flawed electoral system that we keep electing bad leaders. As at now, there are about twenty-eight parliamentary result challenges pending in our courts. That is all part of the flawed system that needs fixing.
  
  We continue with this rather dismissive attitude towards the reforms which even the judges who dismissed the petitioners' case suggested, at our national peril. Losing Kenyan candidates went to their Supreme Court on three successive occasions before the explosion of 2008.
  
  Remember the late prof Mills threatening to turn Ghana into another Kenya? Next time around, it may not be an Akufo-Addo who is prepared to go by the law!
  
  Just for your information, under Production Sharing Agreements (PSA) which Ghana operates, the contractor's share of oil at the wellhead belongs to him to do what he pleases with it. If Ghana's share has been assigned to one individual to lift, and if we cannot make use of the associated gas that has been given to us FOR FREE, why do you suppose the contractor who took the risk of exploration, appraisal and development will sell his oil to you at a discount?
  
  Finally, we continue to be saddled with poor leadership because WE elect them. If we could demand accountability and respect from our leaders, we wouldn't have the kinds of rogue appointments you wrote about!

  reply