Politics of Monday, 15 March 2021

Source: www.ghanaweb.com

Election Petition: Jean Mensa failed to act according to CI – Tsatsu Tsikata

Jean Mensa and Tsatsu Tsikata play videoJean Mensa and Tsatsu Tsikata

Tsatsu Tsikata has stated that the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission (EC) failed to act in accordance with the Constitutional Instrument (CI) which she was a signatory to, in declaring the Presidential election results on December 9, 2020.

Tsikata insists that by Jean Mensa failing to act according to the law, there was no valid Declaration of the 2020 December 7 elections.

Tsatsu Tsikata explained to KSM on the KSM show on Friday, March 12, 2021, that the case of the Petitioners was clear that Jean Mensa “had not begun to do her duty according to the law she herself was a signatory to; the Constitutional Instrument (CI) which requires her to be the person assembling and collating the results from the Regional Collation centres, and in the presence of the candidate’s agents, sorting out whatever issues they had before making a declaration.”

He added: “Based on the evidence of Dr Kpessa-Whyte and Rojo Mettle-Nunoo, how can anybody say that there was even a valid Declaration according to her own Constitutional Instrument.”

Tsikata further stated that Respondents not giving evidence means there is nothing to counter or contradict the evidence that the Petitioner put forward.

“You have the evidence of also Mr Johnson Asiedu Nketia and some elements of that evidence were being turned into directions which in my view were not justified based on the totality of the evidence that he gave,” Tsikata noted.

Tsatsu Tsikata stressed that a situation whereby the Chairperson of the EC could declare as President-elect, a candidate who did not cross the 50 per cent threshold of the Constitution is problematic.