[ 2021-02-23 ]

Petitioner not being treated fairly – Sammy Gyamfi
Mr Sammy Gyamfi, a Spokesperson for the Petitioner
in the 2020 Election Petition trial, has expressed
disappointment at the ruling of the Supreme Court
on the petitioner’s review application.








He said although the Court’s decision prevailed,
the Petitioner, former President John Dramani
Mahama, had not been given a fair hearing and that
Mrs Jean Mensa, the Chairperson of the Electoral
Commission, was being shielded.

Earlier, the Supreme Court had dismissed the
Petitioner’s application for a review of the
Court’s decision to reopen his case.

The nine-member panel, presided over by Chief
Justice Anin-Yeboah, dismissed the application as
“being wholly without merit.”

The Chief Justice said the mere fact that a
judgement could be criticised was no grounds for
an action that it should be reviewed.

He said the review jurisdiction was a special
jurisdiction to be exercised in exceptional
circumstances and that it was not an appellant
jurisdiction.

Chief Justice Anin-Yeboah said it was a kind of
jurisdiction held in reserve to be traded in aid
in exceptional circumstances, when a fundamental
or basic error may have been avertedly committed
by the Court, which error must have occasioned in
the spirit of justice.

He said the application under review was dismissed
because it was not based on any known law or rule
of practice.

The Court has fixed March 4 to give its final
judgment in the trial.

However, Mr Gyamfi said the petitioner would
explore other avenues to have the Chairperson of
the Electoral Commission render due account for
her actions, following the declaration of the
Presidential results on December 9, 2020.

He said in the opinion of the team, and as
articulated by Mr Tsatsu Tsikata, Counsel for the
Petitioner, known principles of law and statutes
that Parliament had passed and the court had
previously applied, were not being applied in this
case, but the decision of the court still
prevailed.

Former President Mahama has filed a petition at
the Supreme Court seeking an annulment of the
Presidential election results and a re-run of the
election between him and Nana Akufo-Addo, the
Second Respondent in the petition.

The Petitioner is also seeking an injunction
directing the 1st Respondent, the Electoral
Commission, to proceed to conduct a second
election between the petitioner and the 2nd
respondent as candidates, as required under
Articles 63 (4) and (5) of the 1992 Constitution.

Source - GNA

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