Afari-Gyan whips Bawumia, Addison in court

Chairman of Ghana’s Electoral Commission (EC) has debunked claims by the petitioners in the ongoing election petition case that there were serial numbers on ballot boxes and tamper-safe envelopes in which ballot materials were sealed.

Dr. Afari-Gyan told the Supreme Court on Thursday May 30, 2013 that: “There aren’t”, adding that: “I don’t know why somebody is trying to invent serial numbers for some of these items that are in our custody”.

The Lead Counsel for the Petitioners, Philip Addison, made copious references to serial numbers on tamper-safe envelopes during his cross-examination of the key witness for the first and third respondents, Johnson Asiedu Nketia.

Similarly, the key witness for the petitioners, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, also alluded to serial numbers on ballot boxes as well as serial numbers embossed on pink sheets during his testimony to the court.

Dr. Afari- Gyan, however, clarified during his evidence-in-chief on Thursday that: “…The stamps we use have no serial numbers; they are distributed at random; it’s only a number; we just share them".

He insisted that: "…There are no serial numbers for ballot boxes and there are no serial numbers for the tamper-safe envelopes”.