The Supreme Court of Ghana has upheld the re-election of Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo as president of Ghana. The decision means the president was validly elected during the December 7, 2020 presidential elections.
The verdict, read by Chief Justice Kwasi Anin-Yeboah who led the seven-member panel that has been sitting on the 2020 Election Petition since the hearing began on January 14, 2021 has brought finality to the contested results of the 2020 presidential election declared by the Electoral Commission(EC).
The Chronicle is particularly glad that ahead of the verdict by the apex court, well meaning Ghanaians had taken steps to sensitise parties in the petition to accept the decision of the Supreme Court in the interest of the country.
From the submissions by counsels for both petitioners and respondents, we at The Chronicle, side with the deduction by the Supreme Court, which basically held that the petitioner failed to conclusively prove any of the issues that it had filed for determination, the reason for which it dismissed the petition.
The Chronicle would, therefore, call on supporters of the opposition NDC to accept the verdict of the court, bearing in mind that the Justices of the Supreme Court are the ones clothed with the powers to settle such disputes in our democratic dispensation.
We must remind the leadership of the petitioners that they should also play key roles in ensuring that the supporters have good reasons to accept the verdict of the court.
This is so because we may not, as a country, be doing ourselves any good if we constantly ridicule verdicts of the highest court of the land.
In the same manner, The Chronicle would like to urge supporters of the ruling NPP and the victors in the petition to be magnanimous in victory in order not to provoke emotions of the vanquished.
The Chronicle sincerely believes that the acceptance of the court’s verdict by the petitioners would enhance our internal democracy and further deepen our mark on the African continent as the beacon of multi-party democracy.
It is also incumbent on former President John Mahama, the petitioner, to concede defeat and place a telephone call to President Akufo-Addo by acknowledging his opponent’s victory and congratulating him.
Although there is no legal or constitutional requirement that the loser of the presidential election in Ghana must concede, it is, however, crucial for demonstrating a continuing commitment to peaceful transitions of power.
To the Electoral Commission, we humbly appeal that going forward; stringent measures must be put in place to ensure that political parties would have no reason to doubt its declarations in future national elections.
We are making this submission because from the two major electoral petitions that have come before the Supreme Court, there is the realisation that the Electoral Commission’s action or inaction, gave petitioners the urge to seek the intervention of the court.
Even though on both occasions in 2013 and 2021, the Electoral Commission’s position carried the day, The Chronicle is of the opinion that the electoral body should always expect the court to validate its operations.
We should as a leading democratic nation, have a robust and convincing electoral system that would cure any mistrust on the part of all stakeholders with regards to our electoral process.
The Chronicle congratulates the president on his re-election as upheld by the highest court of the land and equally commend the petitioner for accepting the verdict of the court.
It is worth noting that the mere fact that the petitioners took their grievances to court instead of seeking redress on the streets is indeed the way to go and a big shot in our democratic governance.
Ghana has indeed by this presidential petition taken a giant leap towards consolidating her democratic gains.
The post Editorial: Presidential petition & consolidating democratic gains; Ghana takes another giant leap appeared first on The Chronicle Online.
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