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?
More importantly, the fact that the booklets
containing the pink sheets had many copies and couldn’t all have clear
signatures or entries made by the Presiding Officers or party agents is a
simple matter that can be understood easily without question.
Again, the fact that polling agents and the
various party agents did not lodge any protest at any of the polling stations
whose pink sheets the NPP petitioners pleaded as affidavits is a major loss for
the petitioners.
Tsatsu’s interrogation has proved to us how this particular
aspect is damaging to the petitioners’ cause. If the party’s agents who were on
the ground and observed what happened on election day didn’t complain about any
irregularity (as is confirmed by their signatures on the pink sheets), what
moral right have Bawumia and his co-petitioners who were not present at those
polling stations to claim that irregularities occurred?
In any case, the agents had every right to
protest at any irregularity and indicate so officially; but they did not do so.
As Tsatsu sought to explain, the lack of protest from such party agents
confirms that nothing irregular happened. What could be clearer than this
argument?
Again, Bawumia’s disparaging of the NPP’s own
party agents raises very disturbing questions. If those agents didn’t report any
malpractice, on what basis would the petitioners be complaining and bothering
the Supreme Court to overturn the outcome of the elections?
Furthermore, the interrogation that has yielded
answers from Bawumia concerning the selective gathering of pink sheets to
suggest that the petitioners acted in “bad faith” for not including pink sheets
from the NPP’s strongholds is a major blow to the petitioners.
No court will entertain such lopsidedness. Here
is how a source on Ghanaweb put it:
“If
the petitioners wanted the court to evaluate the integrity of the 2012
Presidential election and arrive at a just conclusion without prejudice to any
party, it is incumbent on the petitioners, in the interest of fairness and
equity, to subject the whole of the 24,000 pink sheets to the same scrutiny as
they accorded the 11,000 pink sheets that they tendered as evidence.
Whether
coincidentally or by design (which is more likely), those 11,000 pink sheets pleaded
as their “water-tight evidence” were selected from the constituencies won by
the first respondent (President Mahama).
By
excluding more than half of the total polling stations in the country, and
without including any pink sheets from the constituencies won by the first
petitioner (Akufo-Addo), it is impossible for this court to arrive at a correct
decision, using a limited number of pink sheets as evidence.”
One major inroad made by Tsatsu
into the NPP’s case is that the irregularities alleged on the face of the pink
sheet exhibits do not necessarily constitute over-voting. Bawumia has helped Tsatsu’s
cause by admitting that neither he nor Tsatsu were at the polling stations to
know what exactly transpired. Therefore, how reliable could Bawumia’s own testimony
in respect of only the pink sheets be?
Even before the EC’s Chairman,
Dr. Kwadwo Afari-Gyan, enters the witness box to clarify issues concerning the
technicalities (over-voting, biometric verification, signatures on the pink
sheets, entries on Form C1, etc.), it is clear that the NPP petitioners’ case
is crumbling. It is so because of the numerous admissions of anomalies made by
Bawumia and the loopholes that are emerging in the quantum and quality of
evidence from their pink sheet exhibits.
All in all, the Supreme Court is
more interested in EVIDENCE (based on the pink sheet exhibits) than Bawumia’s
ANALYSIS of the data on the pink sheets.
I am persuaded that the Court
will not even factor Bawumia’s ANALYSIS into its judgement because that
so-called analysis is nothing but a dangerously self-opinionated act of
desperation. My limited knowledge of the workings of the Courts and the law
tells me that it is EVIDENCE, not OPINION, which the Courts consider in their
determination of cases. Bawumia’s ANALYSIS is no evidence to turn the judges’
crank.
That is why I laugh a lot
whenever Bawumia seeks refuge in his ANALYSIS whenever he makes any admission
of error.
In all honesty, Bawumia may be credited
with eloquence and the penchant for sarcasm (as is evident in his repartees to Tony
Lithur, Quashie-Idun, and Tsatsu); but undoubtedly, he is abysmally ignorant of
the workings of the court system. He doesn’t know how to separate OPINIONS from
EVIDENCE and how to stay on course to establish a clear line of answering
questions. He deceives himself that the more he talks, the more he impresses
the judges. Wasted energy!!
His ignorance and inexperience
have played him into the hands of the respondents’ lawyers and it will cost the
petitioners.
As we wait for further
developments, we wonder why Akufo-Addo (who is credited with knowledge of the
workings of the court system) is hiding in the shadows for Bawumia (the novice)
to face the bullet so early in the hearing of this case. I hope he will have
his day in court for us to see if there will be any difference to point us in a
new direction. Until then, all we can say is that this tired, worn-out, and
lopsided petition cannot win the day for him and the NPP. I have said so already
and will stick my neck out to reiterate that the NPP has already lost the case.
If for nothing at all, the
Supreme Court will be guided in its judgement by the benefits of the lesser
evil: confirming President Mahama’s victory as against favouring Akufo-Addo. It
is clear that the country will have less problems to deal with if the Court reaffirms
President Mahama’s victory than if it rules in favour of Akufo-Addo. Political
expediency and national security interests will come to play.
Clearly, time is even against
Akufo-Addo. Five months into the administration of President Mahama, who will
have the guts to pronounce him illegitimate and call for his government to be
disbanded? I can’t imagine what will happen in the country, anyway!!
Two, how will Akufo-Addo be
installed in office to rule Ghana after over 4 million votes would have been
annulled for his sake? How is he going to rule with the minority in Parliament,
anyway? Again, what is there for him to fit into? Nothing!!
All said and done, what is happening
at the Supreme Court is nothing but an exercise in futility for purposes of
providing case laws for academic purposes. I can see the proceedings as
yielding input for the training of future lawyers for the country and not
geared at replacing President Mahama and his government with an Akufo-Addo one.
Elections are won at the polls,
not in the dark chambers of the Supreme Court. The millions of Ghanaians who
voted for President Mahama in 8 of the country’s 10 regions as well as the
hundreds of thousands who rooted for him even in the NPP’s strongholds of the
Ashanti and Eastern Regions where Akufo-Addo won will not sit down unconcerned
for their franchise to be discredited.
That is why the Supreme Court
will be guided by reality, not the tantrums of lawyer Addison or the wishful
thinking of Akufo-Addo and Bawumia’s useless analysis shrouded in “Bawumetrics”.
Every reason exists at this stage
for me to be confident that this NPP petition is a washout to be pooh-poohed.
Those who think otherwise can continue nursing vain hopes instead of the
bruises caused them at Election 2012 and refuse to put their house in order
toward Election 2012. As for me and my household, we will have none of
Akufo-Addo because he is not our choice for President.
He can choose to remain adamant and
be deceived by the threatricals of Kwadwo Owusu-Afriyie, the NPP’s General
Secretary and all others blowing hot air just to remain relevant in the Concert
Party that they have turned the NPP into. And Ghanaians are enjoying those
Concert Party shows to the full. More of those, buddies!!
I shall return…
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E-mail: mjbokor@yahoo.com
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