Did NPP's Maximalist Approach Doom Petition?

Let the postmortem of the NPP’s election petition begin.



I want to get my two cents in here before the big guns; the legal brains, begin writing about the aftermath of the Supreme Court’s (SC) ruling on the NPP’s election petition, handed down on Thursday August 29th, 2013.

I write as a layman without any legal training whatsoever. I am however a keen political observer of the Ghanaian political scene, albeit from a faraway place. Having followed with keen interest the presidential election petition and the subsequent verdict, one is left to wonder whether the maximalist approach taken by the NPP doomed their petition. Well, hindsight is always 20-20 and playing Monday morning quarter-back (in American football parlance) is always easier than the real deal.

The main demand/claim/relief NPP sought from the Supreme Court was for the latter to annul almost 4 million votes, because of what the NPP claimed were statutory violations and irregularities that characterized the December 7th and 8th Presidential elections. Such annulment would have then handed Mr. Akufo-Addo the Presidency. The just announced judgment by the SC showed that the Justices ruled 9-0 against annulling a single vote without a re-run. Why didn’t the NPP see this coming? Asking the SC – the constitutional court of the land – to invalidate votes of citizens, who had no hand in any of the violations and irregularities that were being alleged, was obviously a tall order. The NPP petition made such a demand.

My point, of course with the benefit of hindsight is that, if the NPP had asked for a re-run of the elections at the polling stations affected by the alleged violations and irregularities, may be, just may be, they would have had a better chance. Remember there were 4 Justices who actually ordered a re-run in the affected areas, as part of their ruling. A re-run in the current climate may just have favored the NPP.

I am speculating here, but I also think that the NPP did not go that route because, looking at the current economic condition of the country, the public would not have taken kindly to the request for a re-run even of portions of the elections. The NPP could have made the point that the right to vote was so fundamental that they did not want to deny those voters that right, since the said voters had no hand in the alleged violations and irregularities that occurred. Democracy is not cheap, and not only for our convenience. We better pay the necessary economic price to get it right, the NPP could have countered.

My layman’s point, in various discussions with some political colleagues, has been that the SC should rule only on reliefs sought by the Petitioners, one way or the other. I was always reminded by such learned friends that as the Presiding Justices used to say, “The law is in the bosom of the Justices of the SC”, meaning they could rule any way they saw fit, granting reliefs, even when such relief are not being specifically sought. The just announced judgment by the SC confirmed what my friends told me. What did I know!!!

On the other hand, if the Justices had ruled solely on the relief sought by the NPP petition – to annul the votes (due to the alleged violations and irregularities and declare Mr. Akufo-Addo as having being duly elected, the vote would have 9-0 and our country would have been better for it, in my humble opinion.



To the NDC, they should note that they dodged a “bullet”. One more “sympathetic” Justice for a re-run and they would have been in big trouble. Any re-run would have been difficult for the NDC to win. Although I am also reminded that the NPP were seeking annulment of votes from places where the President won and that it would not have been a slam dunk for the NPP either. I still would not have been comfortable, if I were an NDC member, preparing for a re-run.

My main worry though, having said all that is, how close this beloved country of ours, to chaos. We are all yet to read the reason – constitutional arguments, case laws cited etc, behind the respective rulings of the Justices. For me, that fact that 4 out of the 9 Justices were prepared for a re-run of some sort in their rulings, was shocking. Did these Justices really think our country could have easily withstood such an order? What would have happened to the Presidency? (I guess the Constitution would have taken care of that). Would Dr. Afari-Gyan have been allowed by the NPP to conduct the elections? Would he have resigned as a principled man in light of that ruling? How much would a re-run cost? How hot would the political temperature have been during the campaigning and in the days before the re-run?

If I sound or appear contradictory in this piece, well you may have a point, but what I am trying to say is that, if NPP had gone the re-run route, the nation would have been prepared psychologically for it, despite my apprehensions.

As stated above, we all await the justifications given for the rulings. I am particularly anxious to read Justice Dotsey’s “roadmap” as to how he wanted a re-run conducted. Can’t wait !!!



We should all breathe a sigh of relief, because I think the nation has collectively dodged a proverbial bullet.



Long live our beloved country Ghana !!!



Ebo Mends, New York

Ebomends2003@gmail.com