General News of Sunday, 14 July 2013

Source: tv3network.com

Election Petition: Afari-Gyan to be the last in the witness box

Chairman of the Electoral Commission (EC), Dr Kwadwo Afari-Gyan, may be the last witness-in-chief to give evidence in the ongoing hearing on the election petition.

Speaking on TV3’s weekend news analysis programme Headlines, Victor Kojogah Adawudu, a member of the legal team of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), hinted that the first and third respondents in the suit have no intentions of inviting any more witnesses for cross-examination.

“Respondents will not call any person after the cross-examination of Dr Afari-Gyan and re-examination by [James] Quarshie Idun,” he stated.

He expressed concerns about the delay in the suit, saying it is a genuine concern among most Ghanaians.

So far, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia for the petitioners, Johnson Asiedu-Nketiah for the first and third respondents, Dr Afari-Gyan for the second respondents and Nii Amanor Dodoo for KPMG, have all mounted the dock to give evidence at the hearing which started April 16, 2013.

The petitioners – Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey and Dr Bawumia, are seeking an overturn of results of the 2012 presidential elections, alleging that there were violations, irregularities, manipulations and omissions that favoured NDC candidate John Dramani Mahama.