Supreme Court orders recount of pink sheets

Presiding Judge in the Election Petition case, William Atuguba has ordered an audit into the pink sheet exhibits deposed by the petitioners.

The audit is to be done by accounting firm KPMG with two representatives from all parties. The order followed a request by Lead counsel for the third respondent, Tsatsu Tsikata for an audit of the pink sheet exhibits submitted by the petitioners.

He claimed the third respondent received far less than the 11,842 pink sheet exhibits the petitioners are alleging to have deposed.

He insisted that an audit be done midway through his cross-examination of witness which has taken seven days. Counsel for the first respondent Tony Lithur also agreed with the assertion by Tsikata and also insisted for an auditing of the figures.

Quarshie-Idun who is leading the legal team of the second respondent also supported the call for an audit.

Lead Counsel for the Petitioners, Philip Addison who in principle did not object to the auditing of the exhibits, questioned the timing of the call of the auditing.

He argued that the respondents ought to have raised it with the registry that the number of pink sheet they received were far less than the 11,842 the petitioners claimed to have deposed.

Having failed to do that he said the respondents also could have raised the issue before beginning with his cross examination. He wondered why at the closing embers of his cross examination, he would be making the claim that the number of exhibits they received was not 11,842.

Presiding Judge Atuguba called for a recess and said the bench will rule on the matter. He said the first respondent had raised the issue about auditing of the pink sheets, but the bench had to defer that request. He said the bench will come out with a ruling an hour later.

Information reaching Myjoyonline.com indicated that all the lawyers in the ongoing Election Petition were called into the Judges chambers during recess to agree on how to audit the exhibits.

After hours of discussions, they agreed on KPMG as the referee for the audit.

Atuguba then announced when the court reconvened that KPMG shall audit the exhibits as provided by the petitioners to the registry.

He said the cost of the audit shall be borne by all the parties involved in the case.

It is, however, not clear when this audit will be done.