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Opinions of Wednesday, 30 January 2013

Columnist: Appiah-Osei, Lawrence

The Supreme Court Judges also want Peace in Ghana

Yes, the Supreme Court Judges also want peace in Ghana. Unfortunately for them, they don’t have guns, sticks, or bows and arrows but they have what it takes to maintain peace in Ghana, that is the interpretation of the law. They will interpret the laws to maintain the peace Ghana is currently enjoying.

The leadership of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) lied to their supporters before the December elections, during the elections, and they continue to lie to their supporters even after the elections. Let me give you specific examples: Before the elections, the leadership of the NPP told their supporters that Nana Akuffo-Addo’s Free SHS has gone very well with all Ghanaians and because of that Nana was going to win the elections “one touch.” We now know that, that statement was a lie at that time and it’s still a lie now.

During the elections, Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie (Sir John) the General Secretary of the NPP came on air and announced that Nana Akuffo-Addo has won the Presidential elections by 52% of the votes and so all NPP members, supporters and sympathizers should go to church the following day in white clothes and with white handkerchiefs to celebrate the victory. He continued to say the Electoral Commissioner cannot do anything about it and President John Mahama should do the right thing and concede. We now know that, that statement was a lie at that time and it’s still a lie now.

After the elections, the same Sir John was again on air that the Supreme Court will declare Nana Akuffo-Addo winner of the elections in at most two months. He made that statement in late December 2012. We are in late January 2013 and the Supreme Court has not even called the main case in question. Meanwhile, the NPP is questioning the validity of about 4,709 polling stations and some 24,000 pink sheets results. Ursula Owusu, the NPP MP for Ablekuma West, has said that President Mahama’s administration will be cut short by the Supreme Court. She gave no dates because she didn’t know what she was talking about and the Deputy Communications Director of the NPP, Sammy Awuku has also said that Nana Akuffo-Addo would be sworn in as President of Ghana before Christmas 2013. Who should we believe now? Is it Sir John, Ursula Owusu or Sammy Awuku? Maybe we should believe all of them. These people talk like they are on a different planet. They talk like the Supreme Court Judges are not enjoying the peace Ghana is having now. Are the NPP supporters seeing what is going on? Should someone cane them before they know that their current leadership cannot be trusted anymore? They are still in coma.

Do you know why the NPP continue to call President Mahama’s Presidency a “caretakership” administration, and do you know why when the NDC filed its response at the Supreme Court, they described the NPP’s petition as an “afterthought and in bad faith”? Let me explain them to you because they are related. Hopefully, I will open the eyes of some NPP supporters and then they can know the true colors of their current leadership.

On December 9, 2012 (Sunday) when the NPP leadership got to know they had lost the elections, they quickly met and decided on Plan B. The Plan B was that they were going to stop the Electoral Commissioner, Dr. Afari Gyan from declaring the Presidential results. The plan to execute this Plan B was that they were going to the Electoral Commission to say they have evidence to proof that the results of the elections were incorrect and that Dr. Afari Gyan should give them 24 hours to produce the evidence. Twenty-four (24) hours would put us into December 10, 2012 (Monday) and that would have given them enough time to go to court and stopped Dr. Afari Gyan from declaring the results until all irregularities are resolved. That would have put President Mahama in a “caretaker mode “of administering. Left to the NPP alone, Ghana would still be without a President and the consequences are anybody’s guess.

Dr. Afari Gyan being experienced and a peacemaker, gave them one hour to produce their evidence, which the NPP did not have. He told the NPP that the constitution gives him the power to declare the results and if they have any irregularities, they should settle that in court. So you see, the leadership of the NPP still doesn’t know that Dr. Afari Gyan has already declared the winner of the Presidential elections and that their Plan B didn’t work. They rather think their Plan B is working and that President John Mahama is a “caretaker” This is why the NPP has refused to take part in the vetting of the Ministers nominated by the President because they think a court has been able to stop the Electoral Commissioner from declaring the Presidential results. They are still dreaming that their Plan B is working and that as soon as they wake up; Nana Akuffo-Addo would be President of Ghana. Even a baby will not sleep this long. This explanation should tell you why the NDC lawyers used the words “afterthought and in bad faith.” All this court “nonsense” is because some three people realized that the elections didn’t go their way and after thinking of a way out of the mess, they decided to use the court as an exit point. I know the Supreme Court would also give them a graceful exit.

I want to conclude by saying Dr. Kwadwo Afari Gyan, Ghana’s Electoral Commissioner from 1992 to 2012/2013 would go down in the history books of Ghana as the most organized, courageous, wise, brave, intelligent, and no nonsense Electoral Commissioner Ghana would ever have. I predicted in one of my articles that the NPP would not agree with the Electoral Commissioner once he declares President John Mahama as the winner of the December 2012 elections. That prediction has come true.

I am going to make two more predictions: First, in 2016 The NPP will lose the Presidential elections again. They will go to court and argue that the winning margin was too wide and so the court should intervene and narrow the winning gap. Secondly, at the end of the court case before the Supreme Court, the Judges would tell the NPP that their “mountain of evidence” is not good enough to overturn the results as declared by the Electoral Commissioner. The lawyers and the leadership of the NPP should go home and preach peace to their supporters. Ghana needs peace now than ever before. AMEN.

“Looking into the future, by the end of President Mahama’s eight-year rule, the NPP would become an irrelevant opposition party”

Lawrence Appiah-Osei NDC USA Financial Secretary Appiah65@Hotmail.com