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General News of Wednesday, 24 January 2018

Source: www.ghanaweb.com

Documentary on 2012 Election Petition premiers today

We propose the following plan to show the now completed film on ELECTION PETITION that was fought in 2013 and whose processes and outcomes constitutes perhaps the most important intervention in the electoral history of Ghana.

THE FILM: The film is based on the ELECTION PETITION of 2013 that was pursued in accordance with article 64 of the 1992 constitution and the processes prescribed in CI 74 . The petition was filed by Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo , the presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) , his running mate vice presidential candidate , Dr Mahamadu Bawumia and Mr Jake Obestebi Lamptey , chairman of the NPP.

THE 3 PARTS OF THE FILM (60 minutes total)

PART 1: The short history of elections in Ghana, from 1951 to 2012 . Each election is depicted by footage from that era. Attention is given to the elections of 1992, the dispute that followed, and the improvements that came about in 1996 and 2000. Attention is also given to the closeness of election 2008 .

PART 2: This part highlights the socio-political background from which the petitioners came to the case. Attention is paid to the first petitioner, his political and legal history. His extensive contribution as an advocate to the constitutional jurisprudence of Ghana is highlighted through all the cases that he has been involved with. His contribution to government as AG and Foreign minister are highlighted. Testimonials are presented by Godfred Dame (on the legal and political history) and Phyllis Christian (on social dimensions) .

Testimonials are also given about Dr Bawumia focusing on the new brand of advocacy that he had introduced to political campaigning showing a high reliance on data.

PART 3: Here the film deals with the case itself, the drama, the razzmatazz, the Shenanigans, the applications and the live TV coverage: Testimonials are offers by Atuguba and Dotse ( JJSC) Phillip Addison and TSATSU Tsikata ( counsel on either side ) Moses Foh Amoaning and Prof Audrey Gadzekpo .

PART 4: This part looks at the impart that the conduct if the case had on election 2016

This part also shows exclusive footage taken during the hours that President Mahama telephoned Akuffo Addo to concede defeat, the reactions, and also the first responses to the format declaration by the electoral commission

Film ends on the administration of the oath to new president and the new vice president.

WHY THE FILM



Because the producers think that the election petition constituted the single highest test to our constitutional democracy. The decision, the live coverage and the concession became the new and the most important pillar of the 25-year 4th Republican dispensation. The single denominator that differentiates democratic and stable countries is election or disputed elections, most of modern civil wars in Africa and elsewhere has occurred out of disputed elections.

WHY TELL THE STORY IN A DOCUMENTARY

The producers of the film were stunned when a British Journalist told the story of Ghana’s election 2008 in a film called the African election. They decided therefore to spend time and effort to research, analyze and tell Ghanaian political stories in a documentary. This is their third film.