Prez John MahamaPresident John Dramani Mahama has expressed the hope that justice will be served by the Supreme Court by acknowledging the free and fair nature of the 2012 presidential election.
“Our victory was won cleanly and fairly,” he said at a meeting with the executive members and key members of the NDC at the party’s headquarters in Accra last Monday.
But this assertion has been rebutted by the New Patriotic Party, which has asked President Mahama and his government to refrain from making “reckless and irresponsible” comments which may be prejudicial to the outcome of the election petition case before the Supreme Court.
A statement signed by Mr Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie, NPP General Secretary, said President Mahama should stop making further statements calculated to put undue pressure on the court to rule in his favour.
President Mahama last Monday told NDC supporters that the party’s victory in the 2012 election was “clean and fair”.
President Mahama’s visit to the NDC headquarters was in commemoration of the 21st anniversary of the formation of the party.
He used the occasion to hold a meeting with the executive members and key members of the NDC, including the Chairman of the party, Dr Kwabena Adjei and the General Secretary, Mr Johnson Asiedu Nketia.
The President said as the leader of the NDC and President of Ghana, he thought it prudent to visit the party’s headquarters to solidarise with the party activists and express his appreciation to them for their hard work.
“It is the party activists who continue to keep the party organised and strong,” he said.
President Mahama said the NDC was engaged in reorganisation with the registration of members and election of constituency executive members.
He stressed the need for the executive members of the NDC to continue to strengthen the base of the party, saying “it is the base that supports the party.”
Dr Adjei said June 10 was an important date in the history of the NDC as it marked the birth of the party.
he said the election petition case at the Supreme Court had, however diverted attention from the celebration.
Dr Adjei, therefore, thanked President Mahama for being active in reminding the executive members of the need to mark the day.
Intimidation
However, the NPP, in a reaction, has called on President Mahama to stop intimidating the judges with prejudicial statement.
The NPP, therefore, reminded President Mahama to respect the doctrine of separation of powers, the independence of the judiciary and the responsibilities of parties not to make prejudicial statements in cases that they were involved in and which were before the court.
According to the NPP’s signed statement, President Mahama’s comment that the judges would rule in his favour was irresponsible, disrespectful of the judiciary, prejudicial to the election petition and designed to intimidate the nine judges hearing the petition.
It said President Mahama should stop making any such further statements calculated to put undue pressure on the court to rule in his favour.
“The interest of the nation in this case should serve enough notice to him [President Mahama] that Ghanaians expect nothing less than justice,” it stated.
The NPP statement added that it would like to make it clear to the President and government spokespersons to refrain from making such reckless statements intended to bring the administration of justice into disrepute.
According to the statement, the party’s attention has been drawn to certain statements, in a space of just three days, made by President John Dramani Mahama and Mr Felix Kwakye Ofosu, deputy Information Minister, all to the effect that the Supreme Court will declare that the NDC, and for that matter John Dramani Mahama, won the December 2012 polls “cleanly”.
“For John Mahama, who is the 1st respondent in the presidential election petition, to come out emphatically to state that the Supreme Court judges will show that he won “cleanly in free and fair elections”, is deeply unfortunate,” it stated.
As though this was not enough, the statement said that Mr Kwakye Ofosu, had bet his life that the NPP would lose the election petition currently before the Supreme Court.
Right
However, in a rebuttal, the Deputy Minister for Information and Media relations, Mr Ibrahim Murtala Muhammed, stated that President Mahama had the right to comment on the election petition.
He refuted claims by the NPP that the President’s comments were prejudicial.
Speaking at the daily press briefing at the seat of government (Flagstaff House) yesterday, he argued that the President’s expression of hope that the Supreme Court’s ruling would vindicate the claim that the 2012 elections were clean and fair was never prejudicial.
He said the President and all members of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) believed that they had a solid case and that they were hopeful of winning the election petition case.
Therefore, he said, the President was just echoing the confidence of the larger members of the NDC that the party’s victory would be confirmed by the Supreme Court.
The deputy minister said President Mahama had confidence in the independence of the judiciary, and, therefore, expressed the belief that his statement and those of others could not influence the verdict of the Supreme Court.
He claimed that leading members of the NPP had made statements to the effect that the NPP would win the court case and, therefore, did not understand why the NPP would have an issue with the President’s statement.
“We have maintained that we have a solid case and we are confident that we will win the case,” Murtala Muhammed.
By Musah Yahaya Jafaru