Former Minister of Finance in the erstwhile Kufour administration, Yaw Osafo Maafo, has called on Ghanaians to appreciate the efforts of the 2012 presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party, his vice and the party Chairman for demonstrating their unflinching love for peace and stability in Ghana.
The former minister of Education, Youth and Sports highlighted that Nana Addo’s contestation of the 2012 presidential results had paved way for other African countries like Kenya, to learn from the precedent he has set in Ghana.
Just as the presidential candidate for the New Patriotic Party, Nana Akuffo Addo is challenging the results of the 2012 elections in Ghana, the presidential candidate of Kenya’s Orange Democratic Movement, Raila Odinga, is set to challenge the results of last week’s hotly contested presidential election which resulted in Uhuru Kenyatta being declared winner.
The New Patriotic Party (NPP), led by Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, Dr. Bawumia and Jake Obetsebi Lamptey, in the aftermath of the 2012 presidential elections, petitioned the Supreme Court to challenge the validity of John Dramani Mahama as president of Ghana.
In the opinion of the NPP, the election results were rigged in favour of the incumbent, President John Mahama who they claim colluded with EC officials to manipulate the results.
According to the party Chairman, Jake Obetsebi Lamptey, the party took the decision to go to court to challenge the results because the evidence available to them proved clearly that an illegality had been perpetuated.
In an attempt to show solidarity to the decision taken by the party elders, Yaw Osafo Maafo told host of Okay FMs "Ade Akye Abia" programme, Kwame Nkrumah ‘Tikese’ that it was the wisest path to ply in times when the unity of the nation sits on a time bomb.
He noted that Nana Akufo-Addo could have easily march his followers onto the streets and protested the outcome of the results but decided to put the interest of the nation first.
"The decision by Nana Addo and Jake Obetsebi Lamptey to go to court has made me reserved respect for them. If they had chosen the other path other than the court, they could have sparked chaos in the country. I heard the British Prime Minister congratulating Raila Odinga for taking his case to court and you can read between the lines that, they learnt it from Nana Akufo Addo.I am happy we have sent the case to court because I know we have a lot of evidence to back our claim,” he noted.