After 42 days of rigorous election litigation at the apex court of Ghana, it has all gone down to the scorecard as the seven Justices led by Chief Justice Kwasi Annin Yeboah have today, March 4, 2021, presented their final ruling.
Former President and Presidential candidate of the National Democratic Congress, John Dramani Mahama, filed a petition praying to the Supreme Court to grant him some six reliefs concerning the December 7, 2020, Presidential Election.
In his relief, Mr Mahama believes the 12 candidates obtained at most 50% of the valid votes. Hence, he asked for a run-off between him and Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) presidential candidate.
He also prayed the court to declare as null and void Jean Mensah's declaration that Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo is President-elect since she acted unconstitutionally.
Before the hearing, John Mahama sought and was granted the opportunity to amend his petition, which was earlier fraught with errors even though lawyers for the first and second respondents objected.
Candidate Mahama called three witnesses, including the NDC General Secretary, Johnson Asiedu Nketia, Dr Kpesah Whyte, and Robert Joseph Mettle - Nunoo who mounted the witness box to present their side of the story.
However, the first and second respondents elected not to call any witnesses to testify on their behalf. Still, they asked the court to rule over the case based on the evidence produced by the petitioner, which did not sit well with Counsel for the petitioner, who objected to the move but was overruled.
The Supreme Court set March 4, 2021, as judgment day after all processes were exhausted.
Chief Justice Kwasi Annin Yeboah, on behalf of the court, presented the final verdict, which unanimously dismissed John Mahama's petition because he failed to adduce enough evidence.