NPP accuses NDC of meeting KPMG secretly over pink sheet auditing

The Legal team for the petitioners in the ongoing legal challenge of the 2012 presidential results has accused the respondents’ legal team of clandestinely meeting international accounting firm, KPMG, over the intended auditing of the pink sheets tendered in court as evidence by the petitioners to prove their case of a rigged presidential poll.

Lead Counsel for the Petitioners, Mr. Philip Addison, on Tuesday May 21, 2013, accused the respondents of doing things on the blind side of the petitioners as far as the auditing was concerned.

He made the allegation in open court as the two sides bantered over allegations by the respondents that some seven alien boxes full of pink sheets had been smuggled into the court’s registry, in addition to the original number of boxes given to the referee-KPMG-for counting.

Lead Counsel for the Third Respondent, Mr. Tsatsu Tsikata, argued that the respondents doubted the genuineness of the process due to the discovery of the alien boxes and the alleged compromise of the auditing process.

Mr. Addison, however, accused the respondents of behaving like “children” who started a football game but quickly did a volte-face upon realising that defeat was heading their way.

The respondents imputed criminality in what they described as the compromise of the auditing process.

Mr. Addison said if the respondents cannot trust the registry, then they might as well not trust any documents being dealt with by the court in relation to the election petition.

He also insinuated that the National Security had earlier attempted tampering with the pink sheets on the orders of the respondents and so wondered why the respondents were now raising red flags.

Mr. Tsikata, however, argued for an expansion of the control mechanism in carrying out the auditing process so as to ensure a clean count.