ALL EYES ON GHANA TODAY! – AS SUPREME COURT DELIVER VERDICT ON ELECTION PETITION ---20 FOREIGN MEDIA TO COVER THE ENQUIRER, THURSDAY 29TH AUGUST, 2013

By Felix Engsalige Nyaaba

Ghana,  which has been touted as the beacon of democracy in Africa will  receive world attention as the nine member panel of the Supreme Court  gives its on the  historic presidential election petition today.

The presidential election petition, which has gripped international attention for over seven months and received wide coverage by local media during the hearing, will however also witness over 20 foreign media houses in the court today to cover the verdict.

Checks at the communication department of the judicial services yesterday confirmed that about 20 foreign media houses, including BBC, CNN, Associate Press, New-York Times, have obtained accreditations to cover the judgment to be deliver by the Supreme Court. 

The presidential election petition was brought to court by the 2012 presidential candidate e of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) , Nana Addo Dankwa Akuffo Addo, his running mate Dr Mahamudu Bawumia and the party National Chairman, Mr. Jake Obetsibi Lamptey

The petition, which was filed on December 28, last year, by the three petitioners are  alleging irregularities of over –voting, voting without biometric devices verifications, non-signatures of election presiding officers on pink sheets, duplicate pink sheets serial numbers and unidentified 28 polling stations affecting over 11,482 polling stations.

However, after  the  nearly eight months trial, the petitioners  in their  summary  of case,  also known as  written submission, reduced the allegation to affect 10,119 polling stations containing 3,931,339 votes,  seeking the powers of the Supreme Court to annul and declare Nana Akuffo Addo, the loser of the 2012 presidential elections ,president elect for the people of Ghana.

But the respondents, made up  of President John Dramani Mahama, the Electoral Commission(EC)  and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) ,   are however praying the court to punish the petitioners, saying the petitioners have failed to prove compelling evidence that warrant the annulment of over 4.3 million Ghanaians votes.

The judges that have been hearing the case since it was filed are Mr. Justice William Atuguba, president of the panel, Mr. Justice Julius Ansah, Justice Sophia Ophelia Adinyira(Mrs.), Justice Rose Comfort Owusu (Ms) and Mr. Justice Jones Victor Dotse.

The   rest are, Mr. Justice Anin Yeboah, Mr Justice Paul Baffoe-Bonnie, Mr. Justice Nashiru Sulley Gbadegbe and Justice Vida Akoto Bamfo(Mrs).

Accreditation

The communication department of the judicial services has assigned only four categories of persons accredited to enter the court premises   as the court delivers its verdict today.

The category of persons to enter the court premises today includes the parties in the case, their lawyers, journalist and some selected security personnel.

In addition, party functionaries, former and current minister of state,  as well as parliamentarians who wish to observe the verdict,  are also directed to contact their respective parties for accreditation in order to gain access to the Supreme Court premises.

Security at Court

The security services on the other hand has also intensified its presences at the supreme court as at yesterday at about 1:30 pm and vehicles haves been banned from entering into certain areas near the court.

All the entrances to the court premises including the main gates from Ministry, the Ghana Law school gate and the Fast Track High Courts side gate were all guarded by heavily armed police officers.

The court would sit at 10:00 am.