Election petition: Tsatsu accuses Addison of lying in court

Lead Counsel for the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Mr. Tsatsu Tsikata, has accused the Lead Counsel of the Petitioners, Mr. Philip Addison, of peddling “patent falsehood” in court over the election petition hearing.

He told the Bench hearing the election petition that Mr. Addison’s claim that the Electoral Commission deprived the first Petitioner, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo of about 15,000 allegedly earned votes at Ledzokuku during the 2012 presidential poll, was “patently false”.

According to Mr. Tsikata, he has cross-checked the official and certified results announced by the Electoral Commission for Ledzokuku on the EC’s website but nothing of that sort was detected.

"...Counsel is not entitled to put before a witness matters which are patently false...there is a clear official record of the election; I have gone to [see] what was on the website of the EC myself...It is not professionally right to put to a witness a matter which plainly is incorrect; it is not professionally right," Mr. Tsikata averred in court on Tuesday.

According to Mr. Tsikata: "... For counsel to put numbers which are just, frankly, out of nowhere and say that that is the number there, respectfully that is professionally unacceptable".

Mr. Addison alleged on Monday, during his cross-examination of EC Chairman, Dr. Kwadwo Afari-Gyan that substantial votes earned by the main opposition New Patriotic Party’s 2012 Presidential Candidate, were subtracted from Nana Akufo-Addo’s total votes in certain Constituencies, including Ledzokuku, and alleged that those deducted votes were added onto the results of the first respondent, President John Mahama.

At the resumption of hearing on Tuesday, Mr. Tsikata read transcripts of his cross-examination of the petitioners’ key witness, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia to prove that the petitioners had expunged the allegation of vote subtraction and vote padding from their pleadings.

He, therefore, accused Mr. Addison of unprofessional conduct by attempting to put to the witness, claims that the petitioners had abandoned at the beginning of the trial.

By a majority of 7-2 ruling, the nine-member Bench over-ruled the objection by Counsel for the second and third respondents to the petitioners' insistence on putting the question to Dr. Afari-Gyan about the alleged discrepancy on the announced figures.

Mr. Addison, however, withdrew the question after the respondents' objection was over-ruled.

He conceded to the court that the petitioners no longer had an issue with the figures after having done their cross-checks.