Ghana will never be the same after SC’s ruling – Economist

An eminent economist, Dr Kwesi Jonah on Thursday said whatever the direction of the Supreme Court (SC) ruling on the presidential election petition; Ghana will never be the same.

He said the outcome has the potential of threatening national peace and cohesion, overstretched security system, constitutional paralysis, and paralysis of central and local government machinery.

It also has the latent of political revenge, poisoned political atmosphere that could spill over into Election 2016, tarnished integrity and weakened legitimacy of the Electoral Commission (EC) and major political reversals.

Dr Jonah made the observation in Accra at a roundtable discussion organized by the Institute of Economic Affairs on the theme: “Post-electoral disputes resolution: Fostering peace, national cohesion and reconciliation after the Supreme Court ruling".

He said the outcome had the tendency of creating deep seated distrust for the EC, stressing that, the remedy would be a thorough reform of the architecture of electoral governance in Ghana.

He said, in the mist of all this upheavals, the energy and resources of the security forces might be stretched to its limits and urged civil societies and faith based organizations to educate their members to accept the SC’s ruling in order to promote national unity and stability.

He urged the media to avoid provocative discussions that could inflame passions, and cautioned the parties to avoid victory celebrations and wild jubilations.

He said civil societies must maintain their neutrality and should congratulate the two major parties for keeping the peace throughout the hearing and urging them to continue after the verdict.

He also appealed to Ghanaians not to undermine the judiciary by attacking its integrity.

The roundtable discussion was attended by leading political leaders, academia, journalists, legal practitioners, and a cross section of the public.