Election Petition case was a burden – Philip Addison

Lawyer Philip Addison, an aspiring Member of Parliament for the Korle Klottey Constituency in the Greater Accra Region, has revealed that he felt the heavy burden placed on him when it was confirmed that he was going to be the lead counsel for the plaintiffs in the Election Petition trial.

“I was there when one of the lawyers called to tell me that I was made the lead counsel. I thought it was a big joke. So, he said there were meetings in Nana Addo’s house and immediately, I got in my care and got there. Nana Addo was there and he confirmed it. I didn’t expect that at all.”

“I was part of the team but to be a lead counsel, there were so many experienced senior lawyers. It was a huge surprise. When I got there and it was confirmed then I saw the heavy burden placed on my shoulders,” Mr. Addison told Fiifi Banson on Anopa Kasapa on Kasapa 102.3 FM.

Addison who is seeking to become the NPP Parliamentary candidate for Korle Klottey, told Banson that he wasn’t even around when the team selected him.

His reaction was in response to a question posed by Banson on what influenced the team of lawyers’ decision to appoint him as the lead counsel.

He said the trial wasn’t easy at all because it demanded a lot of dedication and paperwork, noting that it even had an impact on their social life at some point.

“The Election Petition wasn’t easy at all. You go to court day in day out and after every sitting; you have to assembly and go through everything. And on weekends, you go outside Accra to brainstorm and return on Sunday. So, we had no social life.”

Ghana in 2013, witnessed an eight-month long Election Petition trial by the Supreme Court that was brought before it by the Presidential candidate of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Addo-Dankwa Akufo-Addo, his Vice, Dr. Mahumudu Bawumia and Jake Obetsebi Lamptey, then National Chairman of the Party.

The petitioners cited massive electoral malpractices and irregularities in the 2012 Presidential elections that was won by the National Democratic Congress (NDC).

The Supreme Court in a 5-4 verdict dismissed the case brought before it by the petitioners and retained John Dramani Mahama as the elected President.