When the Asantehene visited Accra

Monday, May 20, 2013

My good friends, much has been said about or against me anytime I write anything to express my opinions about the Asantehene (Otumfuo Osei Tutu II), especially within the context of hardcore national and local politics.

The last time I wrote an article questioning why the NPP would want to seek refuge in him after losing the elections and taking to the streets to present a petition to him, I was virtually “eaten alive” by those who didn’t want me to criticize him.

Some even threatened to have me expelled from my workplace for daring to take on their sacred cow.

The Supreme Court has enough evidence already? (Part II)

Friday, May 17, 2013

The cross-examination of Bawumia by Tsatsu Tsikata has so far travelled 10 days; although there are hints that it will soon end, there still remains some thorny aspects of the petitioners’ evidence to be scrutinized. The motion was one means to do so.

In arguing for it, Tsatsu drew the court’s attention to the fact that they were not seeking to cross-examine all of the witnesses but that they would pick and choose which one of them they deemed necessary at a time.

He grounded his arguments in legality and quoted portions of CI 74 which states that a person who has sworn an affidavit may be cross-examined and re-examined as necessary. He said these are witnesses whose testimonies are before the Lordships and that what the respondents’ counsel were seeking leave to do was to cross-examine those witnesses for their truthfulness to be determined by the court.

The Supreme Court has enough evidence already? (Part I)

Friday, May 17, 2013

Presiding Judge William Atuguba yesterday dismissed the motion filed by Tsatsu Tsikata (counsel for the NDC) to cross-examine a number of witnesses whose affidavits were tendered as evidence by the NPP petitioners challenging the outcome of Election 2012 (Presidential).

In dismissing the motion, he said that “the court has enough evidence to make a firm decision and would not need extra information from the said witnesses to make a determination of the case”. He also said that granting the request would “prolong the case”.

By this stroke of judicial constraint, has Judge Atuguba prejudiced the outcome of the case already? Has he set the tone for dangerous speculation?

If not for Akufo-Addo’s victory, why is the NPP in court? (Part II)

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Another issue that Tsatsu’s interrogation has revealed is the errors that the petitioners committed in putting together their evidence. The point is that if the petitioners won’t accept the fact that the problems that they have based their allegations on are “administrative errors” committed by those charged to fill the pink sheets and analogous documents on Election 2012, what moral justification do they have when their own exhibits have errors in them? In other words, why should they accept their own errors as negligible and the EC’s as punishable?

We note again that Tsatsu’s interrogation also revealed the impropriety of the pink sheets that the petitioners compiled, claiming to have selected 24,000 out of the 26,002 polling stations nationwide. The 11,842 pink sheet exhibits (out of 24,000) with which they are fighting their cause came from the NDC’s strongholds won by President Mahama. Nothing came from the NPP’s strongholds won by Akufo-Addo. Why?

If not for Akufo-Addo’s victory, why is the NPP in court? (Part I)

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

At today’s sitting of the Supreme Court, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia made startling revelations that make me wonder why the NPP went to court at all to fight against President Mahama, the Electoral Commission, and the NDC concerning Election 2012.

When Tsatsu said that the starting point of the petition was to have the first petitioner (Akufo-Addo) declared winner of the election, Bawumia replied “That is not true”. 

Indeed, if the purpose of the petition is not to have Akufo-Addo declared as winner of Election 2012, why are these NPP people in court, wasting everybody’s time and the country’s resources (with the live telecast, especially) and continuously assuring their supporters of victory to sustain their anti-Mahama activism? Are these people being honest to themselves and their followers?

The NPP petitioners caught in their own web of lies?

Sunday, May 12, 2013

My good friends, we want to analyze the circumstances surrounding the NPP’s petition that have brought matters to a head at the end of the 14^th day of the Supreme Court’s sitting and the order for the KPMG firm to recount/audit the pink sheet exhibits submitted by the petitioners as their affidavits.

I strongly believe that whatever doubts, suspicions, and apprehensions there may be at this stage can be traced to the history behind this petition. That history is not only murky but also suggestive of dishonesty, which if we get to know well won’t surprise us that the quantum of pink sheet exhibits is under scrutiny at this stage in the determination of the case.

Let’s start analyzing the issues from the very genesis of the suit and plot how the inconsistencies and murkiness set the tone for what has led to the Supreme Court’s order that the KPMG recount/audit the pink sheet exhibits as requested by Tsatsu Tsikata, counsel for the third respondents (the NDC).

The NPP’s politics of pink sheets falls flat (Part II)

Friday, May 10, 2013

Bawumia may stand his ground to reject Tsatsu’s claim but his own admission that such errors were genuine acts of human fallibility (as is evident in the anomalies and inconsistencies in the petitioners’ own pink sheet exhibits) has done much damage to his credibility.

If the petitioners’ own documents can have such enormous errors (in respect of the 11,000 pink sheet exhibits), what couldn’t be the problem with the recording of data on the pink sheets for the 26,000 polling stations that the EC dealt with at Election 2012?

The NPP’s politics of pink sheets falls flat (Part I)

Friday, May 10, 2013

My good friends, I have been analyzing the circumstances surrounding the NPP’s petition against Election 2012, which the Supreme Court has been hearing for the 14^th day so far.

And the most important development at this stage is that the pink sheet exhibits being used by the petitioners are to be recounted by the KPMG firm as ordered by Presiding Judge Atuguba at Tsatsu Tsikata’s insistence. While Bawumia and Philip Addison insisted on 11,842 as the total, Tsatsu and Tony Lithur held otherwise and pressed for a recount/audit, supported by Quashie-Idun, the EC’s lawyer.

We are waiting for the KPMG’s recounting of the pink sheets to know what is what. The implications for Bawumia will be dire if the result discounts his claim because the duplicated, triplicated, and quadruplicated pink sheets in the whole lot will be detected and counted out to reduce the quantity from 11,842 to something less. Perjury-in-the-making?

Only the Andanis and Abudus can save Dagbon

Friday, May 3, 2013

My good friends, I am overwhelmed with mixed emotions following the news report that chiefs of the Abudu and Andani royal gates in the Dagbon traditional area have indicated their resolve to amicably settle the protracted Yendi skin dispute between them.

Both sides have acknowledged the fact that many Dagomba localities in the Northern region have remained underdeveloped largely because of the conflict.

They made the pledge to coexist peacefully during a courtesy call on the Northern Regional Minister, Bede Ziedeng on Thursday.

Celebrating the Bui Dam minus Kufuor?

Friday, May 3, 2013

Folks, former President John Agyekum Kufuor is seething with anger, making it known as such on some radio stations in Accra, because he has been slighted and not invited to participate in the commissioning of the Bui Hydro-electricity Dam.

I agree with him a zillion per cent. By slighting him this way, the government has done him a huge disservice, which rubs off on all those in his government who worked hard to take the project off the ground.

Why am I saying so? It must not be difficult to fathom that Kufuor did marvellously well in ensuring that the project could be revived, many years after the Great Osagyefo had identified the Bui area as suitable for an addition to the country's hydro-electricity generating capacities.