An advocacy group, Let My Vote Count Alliance (LMVCA), has accused President John Dramani and Justice Atuguba of employing “unethical legal tactics to delay the proceedings (NPP petition against election) ad infinitum.”
In a press statement issued on Tuesday and signed by the group’s Spokesman, Ibrahim Adjei, LMVCA indicated that it remained “hopeful that the Supreme Court judges will have the courage, wisdom, patriotism and conscience to deliver justice for the peace and security of our nation.”
Below is a copy of the full statement from the group.
Let My Vote Count Alliance is a rainbow coalition of Ghanaians from all walks of life, mainly youth, who are extremely unhappy about the corruption of our democracy through fraudulent elections.
We are determined to defend the Constitution and fully support any legitimate action that can quickly correct this dangerous phenomenon, so common in Africa, of manipulating elections with no reproach for the offenders.
Ghana was supposed to have moved past that more than 2 decades ago, so we want to stand up and fight against this dangerous trend of violating the sovereign will of the people in favour of those who have the power to rig elections.
Our main focus is the 2012 elections, and the subsequent action being taken in the Supreme Court to identify when and where the fraud took place. Judging by the actions of John Mahama and other NDC operatives since this process began, it has become clear that they have no confidence in their ability to win the case.
Because Mahama knows that the evidence presented to the court will likely lead to his eviction from the Castle, his only choice, short of shredding the Constitution and shutting down the Court, is to employ unethical legal tactics to delay the proceedings ad infinitum. This will effectively deny the majority of Ghanaians not only justice in the case challenging not only the validity of his presidency, but also confidence that their democracy can function effectively with independent institutions free from political pressure.
We know that it was at the Castle that the plot was hatched to challenge CI 74, the Supreme Court rules that govern how presidential petitions are to be conducted. The challenge, prompted by Mahama, has NDC surrogate in the PNC, Bernard Mornah as the plaintiff. In fact, Bernard was not even aware of the details when a radio station called to ask him why he was challenging “No Verification No Vote”. In fact, that has nothing to do with CI 74, but rather CI 75.
It is interesting to note that Bernard Mornah’s lawyer is none other than Raymond Atuguba. Who is Raymond Atuguba? He is the same man who is the Executive Secretary to John Mahama at the Castle. So we can clearly see what is happening here and the web of deceit being spun.
The objective of Mornah’s case is to delay the court process. Mornah wants to challenge CI 74, because its function is to ensure that presidential election petitions are dealt with expeditiously.
So why would the President’s Executive Secretary draft and sponsor a writ that seeks to challenge why the judges want to sit daily, including weekends and public holidays? If the President is so confident about winning why would he get his secretary to lead a case that is against the rule that there shall be no review (or appeal) in a Supreme Court decision in a presidential election petition?
If anyone held any doubt that John Mahama is only looking to prolong his stay in office by default by delaying the court process, then his decision to call 4,800 witnesses should erase it. Since the NPP case is based on the official EC records of the process and results of each polling station, what could 4,800 witnesses possibly say that will contradict the official documents from which the EC declared John Mahama President?
This is where Mahama and the EC’s interests diverge – for Mahama to challenge the pink sheets is to challenge the very validity of his disputed Presidency.
His strategy is clear for all to see. He knows he has no case and is planning to entrench himself in office by delaying the court process. He knows he did not win and will do whatever the court will allow him to do to delay as long as he can, hoping that the public will grow tired. Well, the Let My Vote Count Alliance is here to say that we will NOT grow tired and we will not rest until the Court does what is right by the people!
In fact, we see the application by the NDC to join the NPP case in the Supreme Court as another strategy to achieve the same goal – delay delay delay.
If John Mahama was so sure of his declared victory, would he not rather be wanting this case dealt with speedily so he can go about his duties as a duly elected president?
The truth is that he knows what the majority of Ghanaians know: that he did not win. He must be stopped from delaying the proceedings before justice is denied to the millions of majority Ghanaians who are waiting for the Supreme Court to prove to them that Ghana is in fact a democratic and constitutional republic with independent institutions, free and fair elections, and the rule of law.
We must not destroy our democracy!
We must let the votes of the majority of Ghanaians count!
There is peace in Ghana because people are hopeful of justice. Ghana’s stability, peace and democracy depend on justice being delivered in this case. We remain hopeful that the Supreme Court judges will have the courage, wisdom, patriotism and conscience to deliver justice for the peace and security of our nation.
They should not allow John Mahama to use delay tactics to deny the people justice.
Source: Citifmonline
