Dr Dominic Ayine, a former Deputy Attorney General under the erstwhile National Democratic Congress (NDC) government, is hopeful the Supreme Court could rule on the election petition of John Mahama in two weeks.
Speaking on the Keypoint on TV3, Dr Ayine said he expects the panel sitting on the petition to expedite the process leading to the final judgement just as it was done in Kenya.
“For time to begin to run, they have to be served and personally too, in the case of the Electoral Commission because it is an independent institution, any principal officer can be served with the petition and receive it,” the Bolgatanga East MP said.
“But in the case of His Excellency the President, as the second respondent, he must be personally served. I hope that the panel in this case will find during the case management a more expeditious way of getting us into a shorter period. In fact, I don’t want us to go 42 days, that is too long, the Kenyans did it in two weeks,” he said.
Prosecute EC officials
Speaking on the same show, Nii Ayikoi Otoo, a former Attorney General under former president J.A Kufuor, called for the prosecution of electoral officials found to have engaged in electoral fraud during the elections.
“It is not only people who come to commit offences who are held liable but even officials of the Electoral Commission could also be held liable, it is about time we put some of them before court,” he said.
Martin Kpebu, a private legal practitioner, on his part called for the amendment of electoral laws to allow for respondents in election petitions to be served electronically.
Petition
The NDC)on Wednesday (30 December 2020) officially filed a petition at the Supreme Court to challenge the 7 December presidential election result declared by the Electoral Commission (EC).
According to the NDC, the petition details serious violations of the 1992 Constitution by the Electoral Commission and its chairperson and returning officer for the presidential election, Jean Adukwei Mensa, in the conduct of their constitutional and legal responsibilities.
It seeks among others, a declaration from the Supreme Court to the effect that, the purported declaration of the results of the 2020 Presidential Election on 9 December 2020 is unconstitutional, null and void and of no effect whatsoever.
Fred Dzakpata
* Asaase Radio 99.5 – tune in or log on to broadcasts online.
#asaaseradio #TVOL
