Swearing-In Won't Affect Court Case -NPP

The leadership of the New Patriotic Party insists that their intended action to contest the election results at the Supreme Court will not in any way be affected by the constitutional process of the swearing in of the President-elect, John Dramani Mahama, on January 7, 2013.

Barring any unforeseen hitches, the team of auditors collating evidence of electoral fraud, which will form the basis of the court action, would be ready today, The Chronicle is reliably informed.

The Director of Communication for the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Akomea, reiterates that the Constitution of the land spells out clearly guidelines for action by the Supreme Court after the case has been heard.

His comments come at the heels of concerns from many Ghanaians, especially, supporters of the NPP, that the swearing-in of the President-elect would make nonsense of the party's case in court.

According to Nana Akomea, Article 64 of the 1992 Constitution is explicit on guidelines for contesting electoral results, adding that the party had enough evidence to prove to the court that the Electoral Commission's verdict of the election was not the true representation of how the people voted.

Article 64 of the 1992 Constitution states:
(1) The validity of the election of the President may be challenged only by a citizen of Ghana who may present a petition for the purpose to the Supreme Court within twenty-one days after the declaration of the result of the election in respect of which the petition is presented.

(2) A declaration by the Supreme Court that the election of the President is not valid shall be without prejudice to anything done by the President before the declaration.

(3) The Rules of Court Committee shall, by constitutional instrument, make rules of court for the practice and procedure for petitions to the Supreme Court challenging the election of a President.

Speaking again on concerns raised by many on a possible power vacuum should the court uphold the evidence of the NPP, Nana Akomea noted that the same Constitution makes adequate provision for a successor in the person of the Speaker of Parliament, who takes over the presidency for a period of three months, should the President and his Vice be set aside by the Supreme Court, after which fresh elections would be held.

The New Patriotic Party has rejected the official results of the elections, as announced by the Electoral Commission, and has officially given its intent to contest the results.

Nana Akomea, Communications Director for the NPP, in an earlier interview with The Chronicle, was emphatic that the party would file its case at the Supreme Court within the 21 days, as stipulated by the Constitution.

He hinted The Chronicle that the party had so far gathered 'overwhelming evidence' of fraud, which the party would soon present before the Supreme Court.

He indicated that the party was determined to present 'water tight' evidence at the court.

Yesterday, thousands of NPP supporters hit the streets of the Ashanti Regional capital, Kumasi, in a protest over allegedly being discriminated against by the Electoral Commission in the just-ended elections.

They noted with concern that while the EC ensured a strict compliance of the rule of no verification, no vote in the Ashanti Region, same could not be said in other regions where people were allowed to vote without verification.