Election Petition: Respondents are chasing ghosts - Ayikoi Otoo

A former Attorney General under the erstwhile New Patriotic Party administration is mocking what he says is the Respondents “fixation” on a non-existent 24 pink sheet boxes which were supposed to have been audited by the international accounting firm KPMG.

Ayikoi Otoo says the Respondents' compliant about 24 pink sheet boxes increasing to 31 boxes are only “a figment of their own imagination.”

Both the first and third Respondents in the ongoing Presidential Election Petition are alleging that pink sheet boxes in the custody of the Court Registry that were due for counting had miraculously increased from 24 to 31.

The President of the nine judges, Justice William Atuguba, appointed KPMG as referee to audit the pink sheets after consistent claims by the Respondents that they received far less the number of pink sheet exhibits than the petitioners claimed to have served the court.

Even before the referee began the auditing process the Respondents claimed the process had been compromised with the addition of seven more boxes and must be halted.

Tsatsu Tsikata in raising the allegation before court said there has been an element of “criminality” on which grounds he called for temporal suspension of the auditing process.

The Presiding Judge refused his request and ordered him to redirect his concerns to the referee.

KPMG has since continued with the counting.

On Joy FM and Multi TV news analysis programme Newsfile on Saturday, Ayikoi Otoo said the allegations by the Respondents have no basis.

He said they are “chasing ghost” because the allegations cannot be authenticated by anybody.

“Who is coming to give evidence for them?” he asked.

Editor in Chief of the Crusading Guide newspaper Kweku Baako Jnr agreed with Otoo.

Contrary to claims by the Respondents that there was an initial inventory taken which put the number of pink sheet boxes to 24, Kweku Baako Jnr, said there was no such inventory taken.

According to him, a top KPMG official has publicly admitted there has been no such inventory and wondered how the Respondents came up with the figure 24.

Nana Ato Dadzie who is a member of the NDC legal team and was also on the show, said they disagree with the views by the KPMG official.

He insisted there was some level of inventory taken, saying every accountant moves around with pens and paper when issues like this crop up.

He said the final results of the auditing will determine the next line of action to be taken.