General News of Wednesday, 15 May 2013

Source: XYZ

Election petition: Court rules against Tsatsu’s line of questioning

The Supreme Court has sustained an objection raised by Lead counsel for the petitioners, Mr. Philip Addison concerning the line of questioning of the Lead Counsel for the third Respondent, in the ongoing election petition case.

Mr. Tsatsu Tsikata sought to question the Second Petitioner and key Witness Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia on a document which the Respondents intended to use to demonstrate the Petitioners’ “bad faith” as far as their challenge of the 2012 election results are concerned.

At Tuesday’s hearing, Mr. Addison objected to Mr. Tsikata’s attempt to cross -examine Dr Bawumia on a document which was not tendered in evidence by the petitioners.

At the start of today's hearing, the President of the nine-member Bench, Justice William Atuguba, ruled: "The questions to which the objections have been raised are covered with paragraphs 27 of the third respondent’s amended answer to the second amended petition. However, insofar as the said questions tend to re-plough grounds previously covered by the third Respondent’s cross examination, the objection is sustained”.

Mr. Tsikata is in his tenth day of cross-examining Dr. Bawumia.