By Nana Kow Blankson

May 23, 2013

When the General Secretary of the NDC, Mr Asiedu Nketia, popularly known as General Mosquito took the witness stand in the on-going Supreme Court petition of the 2012 Presidential Election results, he left little doubt in the minds of those at the courtroom that he knows what he was talking about. General Mosquito was representing both the 1st and 3rd respondents in the case.

General Mosquito, who could easily pass as an official of the Electoral Commission (EC), spoke in a clear voice and was able to school Dr Mahamadu Bawumia, the NPP star witness and their supporters who were in court on the standard procedures of the EC, the role of polling agents, how electoral protests are lodged, meetings involving the EC and the various political parties prior to the 2012 Elections, how pink sheets are filled and overall knowledge of electoral guidelines.

The way General Mosquito carried himself in court, if you are even his worst enemy you cannot help by giving him thumps up for a good job done. His answers were not loaded with any ambiguities and if you happen to listen to him you will walk away thinking that General Mosquito was not only on top of the issues but a very credible witness.

If you did listen to the cross-examination of Dr Bawumia you will see a stark difference between him and General Mosquito who came across as someone with a convincing or compelling story as compared to Bawumia.

General Mosquito brought his long experience with the EC laws and procedures to focus as he was sharp, knowledgeable, direct to the point and made people who listened to him walk away with something.

Indeed many NPP people never thought that General Mosquito will be able to forcefully hit on themes and explain all what he knows about the electoral laws and how voting was conducted on December 7 and 8, 2012. Apart from the few objections raised by the NPP lead counsel, Philip Addison, you could see the whole attendees at the court listening with uninterrupted attention to Asiedu Nketia.

Those people who hailed Bawumia as someone knowledgeable on EC laws will have to reverse their notes as General Mosquito’s performance in court clearly showed that Bawumia was just a novice who did not know anything about the electoral laws but simply tried in court to create mischief by adopting his own set of electoral laws.

Something that General Mosquito said which was well received in court based on the way people were nodding their heads was when he stated that ballot papers were printed at printing houses that were known to all political parties, and that the EC had a timetable which allowed all agents of the parties to be present during the time of printing.

According to General Mosquito, when the printing of the ballot papers were completed, all the parties were involved in its distribution to the regions, constituencies and the polling stations. He discounted claims by the NPP that they did not have any provisional voter register from the EC, claiming that the EC held meetings with all parties and informed them about the provision of the provisional voter register.

If what we all heard in court on Thursday is any guide, I can say with all certainty that General Mosquito mesmerised the court and seriously put in doubt the evidence presented by Dr Bawumia.

nkowblankson@yahoo.com