Although the previously stated Supreme Court date of electoral
judgement (29 August) is still expected to be met, the Court has
subsequently cross-examined the leading counsel for both the
NDC (Tsatsu Tsikata) and NPP (Philip Addison), as well as President
Mahama's counsel (Tony Lithur) and counsel for the beleaguered Electoral Commission (James Quashi-Idun). This round of
cross-examination was scheduled by the Court upon receipt of final
written submissions from the respective electoral case parties, as
described in the last issue of Ghana Politics & Security.
As may be expected, the Court reports indicate that all parties
have maintained their final positions presented in their respective
final submissions, with no major surprises or indications (as yet) of
further delays. Indeed, the major Court event of the week appears to be
the contempt judgement noted above for the NPP's general
secretary which has no bearing on the major matter at hand.
The Court's conduct will, of course, come under further
scrutiny once the result is announced, although the commendation of the
Court last week by Ghana's "anti-corruption" organisation the Bureau
for Internal Affairs, headed by Mohammed Frimpong, for the
respective Justices' "estimable character" adds another voice to those
who believe that the Court - despite the extensive length of
proceedings in comparison with similar electoral cases elsewhere,
including Kenya - has so far demonstrated competence and fairness in
its proceedings.
© 2013 Menas Associates
