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Opinions of Wednesday, 10 July 2013

Columnist: Tweneboah-Koduah, Nana Akua

Is NPP Forging Documents At Supreme Court?

Ask Nana Akua Tweneboah-Koduah

They say desperate situations call desperate measures. Otherwise you will not see the kind of dung that the NPP has splashed on itself and desperately trying to wash it off with every available liquid.

When the on-going Supreme Court (SC) petition case challenging the results of the 2012 Presidential election started, everybody thought that the NPP was so much in a hurry to get the case over with. Mr Philip Addison, the lead counsel for the petitioners never ceased to draw the attention of the nine justices anytime he felt that the lawyers for the respondents were adopting any delaying tactics.

To the extent that after Dr Afari Gyan, the star witness of the Electoral Commission had finished with his evidence in chief, Mr Addison argued that he would like to be the last person to cross-examine him so that the respondents will not adopt any feet dragging tactics.

Mr Addison’s argument did not go down well with the respondents who also made their point that Mr Addison should make the first go at Dr Afari. The argument became so intense that in the end the justices sided with the petitioners that the respondents should cross-examine Dr Afari-Gyan first. This, many believed was aimed at speeding up the whole petition process.

But how dead wrong was everybody. We were all mistaken because Mr Addison who claimed he was so much in a hurry to win the case for the petitioners keeps dragging the whole process from one winding thing to another. And I bet, no one knows where everything is leading to as Philip Addison seems to be fishing for something which is not there.

And in his anxiety to get something to stick on the respondents, Mr Addison is desperately throwing everything around. That is why on Monday July 8, Addison was accused by the respondents that he has forged some documents. In fact Mr Tony Lithur, counsel for President John Mahama told the court that some of the exhibits tendered by Philip Addison were forged. He accused the NPP of creating new exhibits which are different from the list that they have already been filed in court.

Mr Lithur noted that for some strange reasons the NPP has done some cancellations and deletions on the some of the pink sheets. He added emphatically that the NPP has forged some documents to correspond with KPMG’s report.

But even though NPP fought back on these allegations with some justices even saying that they are indeed strong allegations, the respondents stood their grounds. It seems the respondents are keeping eagle eyes on every move by the petitioners which is why they continue to pore over every document they tender.

Mr Tsikata was accused variously by the NPP for keeping Bawumia in the witness box for almost two weeks but Philip Addison may surpass Tsatsu as nobody can now predict when he will be done with his cross-examination of Dr Afari Gyan for the addresses to begin.

The respondents have vowed never to allow the petitioners to sneak in any document to bamboozle to court, that is why Philip Addison continues to have road blocks in his cross-examination of Dr Afari Gyan.

nakuakoduah@yahoo.com