Ghana’s Supreme Court has upheld President Akufo-Addo’s victory in the December 2020 presidential election after dismissing an election petition filed by the opposition leader John Mahama.
Mr. Mahama, a former President, had filed the petition asking the court to annul the results of the elections and order a rerun because of alleged irregularities.
He argued that neither he nor President Akufo-Addo attained a clear majority because of the omission of one constituency from the provisional declaration of results by Ghana’s electoral commission.
Mr. Mahama’s petition also highlighted errors in the initial declaration of results which the electoral commission admitted to.
But the nine judges hearing the case unanimously affirmed that President Akufo-Addo had obtained more than 50% of total valid votes.
It also held that the electoral commission’s mistakes and subsequent corrections of the declared results did not significantly impact the outcome of the polls.
“The error committed by the commissioner cannot void the declaration,” said Ghana’s Chief Justice Kwasi Anin-Yeboah in his ruling.
The court maintained that the declaration of the results was therefore legal.
According to the electoral commission President Akufo-Addo garnered 51.59% of the votes while Mr. Mahama got 47.37%.
Mr. Mahama’s case was criticized by observers for not providing compelling evidence.
This was again affirmed by the court which found the petition’s allegations of irregularities to be lacking substance.
“The court expected the pink sheets to be exhibited to prove the claims. Allegations of wrong aggregations of votes were not proved,” said the Chief Justice.
Mr. Mahama’s case was considered so weak by the two respondents, President Akufo-Addo and the electoral commission, that they declined to defend themselves whilst remaining confident of victory.
The former President’s lawyers had wished to subpoena the head of the electoral commission, Jean Mensa, for cross-examination but were prevented from doing so by the court.
Reacting to the verdict, which he said he disagreed with, Mr. Mahama was critical of the Supreme Court’s decision not to allow the cross-examination.
“Whatever the reasons for not allowing Mrs. Mensa to testify or answer questions, it leaves an embarrassing stain not only on our justice delivery system but also our nation’s electoral system,” he said.
“Everything was done in this trial to prevent the Commission from accounting to people in whose name they hold office,” added the former President.
Despite the misgivings, Mr. Mahama said his side will abide by the ruling.
“We will be law-abiding and do nothing to compromise the stability of the country.”