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Opinions of Monday, 20 May 2013

Columnist: Sarpong, Justice

Nobel Peace Prize For Nana Akuffo Addo Is Next

Ghana has once again set a trend through Nana Akuffo Addo that has enhanced the image of our country in the international community as a country well advanced in solving political problems amicably even if our economic situation does not put us amongst the advanced countries. You might love or loathe Nana Akuffo Addo but the path he has taken has shown the international community that, Ghanaians are peaceful people who can solve their differences without resorting to destruction of lives through wars or riots and in lieu of this, Nana Akuffo Addo should be considered and awarded a Nobel Peace Prize for Peace as his going to court to challenge the results of the 2012 election i Ghana has set a precedent other countries around the globe have emulated.

Nana Akuffo Addo has been praised around the world by world leaders and organizations for the path he has taken to resolve the election impasse and the latest to do so is the The European Union (EU) which has commended the 2012 Presidential Candidate of theNew Patriotic Party, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo for using the court, rather than violence in challenging the results of his country’s 2012 presidential election results.

"The EU has in a letter signed by Pedro Serrano, a Member of Cabinet of the European Council and the Principal Advisor on External Relations to the President of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy, commended the petitioners for resorting to the court.The letter from the Union was in response to a petition submitted to the President of the European Council by the Association of Concerned Ghanaians in Europe."

All Ghanaians irrespective of our political affiliations should be proud about how we have handled this election dispute without resorting to war which has always been the way election disputes have been settled especially in Africa and Ivory Coast comes to mind as the latest African country that resorted to war because of election misunderstanding which led to loss of life of more than three hundred(300) Ivorians and displaced hundreds of thousands of its citizens to become refugees in other countries including Ghana.

Kenya which has experienced election riots and the death of hundreds of people about four years ago was the first to emulate Nana Akuffo Addo's example and instead of resorting to riots and street demonstrations as they did four years ago instead solved their election dispute between Kenyatta, the 51-year-old son of Kenya's founding leader, who won the election with 50.07% of the vote.Raila Odinga, who got 43.31%, had challenged the outcome in court on the grounds that it was flawed and marred by technical problems. The case has since been resolved by Kenya Supreme Court which affirmed Kenyatta's victory. After the court issued its ruling, Odinja said he accepted its judgment and would abide by it and the country has moved on without any loss of life, thanks to Nana Akuffo Addo. This is a country that has resorted to fighting not long ago in an election dispute that led to the loss of life of hundreds of people. I can say without doubt that, if it was not Nana Akuffo Addo going to the Supreme Court in Ghana to seek address which the Kenyans used as a yardstick, there would have been a loss of lives in Kenya in their election dispute.

The wind of settlement of election disputes in courts instead of street riots and killing of innocent people is not blowing only in Africa but has gone global with Venezuela being the latest to follow Nana Akuffo Addo's example when the winner of that country's election and the loser chose to settle their dispute in court instead of fighting it out on the streets which they have done about five years earlier that claimed the lives of hundreds of people if not thousands during Chavez administration. The loser of the recent election, Opposition leader Henrique Capriles has formally challenged the result of last month's presidential election in Venezuela Supreme court like Nana Akuffo Addo did.

Nicolas Maduro won the vote by a narrow margin of 1.49 percentage points, or fewer than 225,000 votes. But lawyers representing the opposition coalition have filed a complaint at the Supreme Court, alleging a number of irregularities and calling for the result to be annulled.Mr Maduro who won the election has insisted that, the election was fair.

Even if you don't like Nana Akuffo Addo, you have to give him credit for being a pace setter in setting example of how election disputes should be settled by resorting to the court route instead of killing each other as has been the case in many countries around the globe. Nana Akuffo Addo whether he lose the petition pending in court or wins it has exemplified himself well and enhanced his reputation as a peace loving man whose singular effort has saved lives in Kenya and Venezuela and should be awarded a NOBEL PEACE PRIZE for saving lives around the globe of people who will no longer resort to wars to settle election disputes. The world should not close its eyes on this and the three Petitioners in Ghana's case should be considered for the Nobel Prize for PEACE.

Justice Sarpong

(CARDINAL of TRUTH)