"NDC is using kitchen knife to chisel Mt. Kilmanjaro of evidence" - Boadu

John Boadu

A Deputy Director of Communications of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), John Boadu has likened the cross-examination of Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia by Tony Lithur as "using a kitchen knife to chisel mountain Kilimanjaro for evidence".

His comments came in the wake of a "triumphant" declaration by a member of the National Democratic Congress' legal team Abraham Amaliba to the extent that, his team was "slowly but gradually chipping away the case of the petitioners".

The two men were part of a pannel of discussants on Metro TV's Good Morning Ghana programme, Wednesday.

Mr. Abaliba explained that the essence of the cross examination was to "test the credibility, test veracity of the evidence" and "surprise the witness". He concluded that this has been "largely achieved".

But a "gratified" and "confident" John Boadu said he was unimpressed by the attempts by counsel for first respondent.

To buttress his point, he outlined what he believed were failed attempts by counsel to dismiss petitioners' claim of over-voting in the 2012 elections.

He believed that central to the "difficulty" facing Tony Lithur, counsel for President Mahama was "in understanding what over-voting is".

He defined over-voting to have occurred when "votes counted in the ballot box are more than votes counted on the voter register" or when votes counted are more than votes "biometrically verified".

John Boadu wondered how learned counsel could be "pushing an argument" that "observations" by NPP's Boakye Agyarko that the 2012 elections was free and fair as evidence "in court and not on a propaganda platform".

According to star witness Dr. Bawumia, the over 11,000 pink sheets tended in court as evidence to support petitioner's claim, are "too many" in view of calculations that prove 6,000 of these sheets was "enough to turn the verdict".

The former NPP National Youth Organiser believed the self-assured air and commentary by lawyer Amaliba and the NDC was an attempt to "tickle themselves and laugh".