On the 28th May 2013, Ghanaians inside the Supreme Court and those watching on their TVs were staggered when the General-Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Mr Asiedu Nketiah, who earlier in leading evidence stated categorically that “No over-voting took place in the 2012 Presidential elections” was seen struggling to redefine over-voting!
His new definition during cross examination of over-voting is when unidentified materials are found in the ballot box! He gave this new definition because he was in a tight position to admit that over-voting which he said NEVER took place did take place in the 2012 Presidential elections.
It must be stated that Mr. Asiedu Nketiah was in the witness box representing President Mahama and the NDC party. The sad news to me was that, Mr Asiedu testified as if he was holding an indoor political party rally at the Accra Conference Centre and not in the Supreme Court testifying in an election petition.
At least we all have lessons to learn from what is coming out of the Supreme Court. It is a different thing throwing allegations in the media and proving same in a Court of competent jurisdiction. And that is what the General-Secretary of the NDC is faced with.
Even though, Asiedu Nketia bragged in open Court of having over 34 years of experience in election affairs, his first experience at cross examination was to humbly admit that apart from the 2012 elections he has no previous knowledge about biometric voting!
When he first appeared in Court, his party propaganda lawyers and communicators were all over the place saying a University of Elections should be set up in Ghana and Asiedu Nketiah made the Vice Chancellor! Don’t laugh at all, readers.
From the empire of contradictions that are coming out of Mr. Asiedu Nketiah’s cross examination, I don’t know if it is rather a University of Contradictions on Electoral Affairs that should now be established so that he will be named as the Vice Chancellor.
What also came out of the cross examination of the NDC General Secretary was his confession in open Court that NONE OF THE PETITIONERS has ever stated that the 2012 Presidential elections was free and fair. That was a big confession.
What the petitioners have said in their petition is what matters in Court but not what serial callers and other persons who are not in Court say or have said in the media.
Mr. Asiedu Nketiah also tried albeit in vain to reduce the constitutional and statutory violations to “clerical errors”! What has remained obvious from the respondents since the election petition hearing started has been their strenuous effort to redefine violations as clerical errors.
What they have not yet answered is why these errors occurred in over 11,138 polling stations. It is good that we are all watching proceedings. We know logic and we also know propaganda.
The law is the law and at the end of the full hearing of the election petition the Supreme Court will decide based on the hard legal evidence at its disposal who was validly elected as President of the Republic of Ghana.
Whilst waiting for the case to end, we are on with our monitoring and observation.
Good Day.
Akilu Sayibu
Email: Akilu.Sayibu@live.uwe.ac.uk