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Opinions of Thursday, 16 May 2013

Columnist: Pobee-Mensah, Tony

I am disappointed in our Supreme Court

I have already made my views known that the Supreme Court should not have heard the election petition that they are currently hearing. I think the court would have done Ghana a lot of good if they had first let the complainants come to explain why their evidence would refute the decision by the Electoral Commission and the assertion by all the international observers that the election was a fair and free. A decision on this should have been paramount. Instead pink slip after pink slip; pink slip every day, our Nation's future hangs in a balance. (It all sounds like chad to me. I wonder if they are looking at the pink slips with magnifiers).

We get the message that the Supreme Court is sending by their action: not only can we not trust the Electoral Commission; we cannot have faith in the international observers. If I am an international observer and believe in my integrity, should I come back to observe an election in Ghana again especially if the court overturns the results of the election? Should Ghanaians let international observers come in again to observe our elections if one party can so easily pull one over their eyes?

Second point is that this is a matter of national importance and should not be treated like an ordinary court proceeding. This should be a bull dog work that should be done around the clock until a decision is made. It should not be a stage for the litigants to flaunt their accolades. They should be limited to the scope of the case and limited in their time on the "stage". In no way should the court allow one witness to be questioned for days on end. The Supreme Court should keep the litigants in check and move the case on and move the nation on to other things. They have failed to do so: for that, I say shame on our Supreme Court.

All these do not matter if the Supreme Court in the end decides that Mr. Mahama won the election fairly. If they decide that he didn't, there are lots implied and there will be lots of consequences. That's when our troubles will start. It could in the end, expose the inadequacies of our constitution. Our Supreme Court goes on about its business like always. Please look at Kenya and learn something.

I wonder if the judges iron out every crease in their robes every morning before they come to court; knowing there will be TV cameras there.

Tony Pobee-Mensah