Former President John Mahama in an address to Ghanaians expressed disappointment in a ruling given by the Supreme Court (SC).
The SC unanimously dismissed the National Democratic Congress (NDC) case against the Electoral Commission (EC) saying the EC is an independent body and will only be directed by the court if it acts contrary to law.
Their decision further indicated that the existing voter ID card and birth certificates cannot be used as proof of identity to register in the upcoming voter registration exercise.
Mahama Deeply Disappointed
In reaction to this, the largest opposition Flagbearer said "We are deeply disappointed and strongly disagree with the court over this outcome, which has confounded many legal experts and thrown the country into a state of confusion.
Our legal team is examining this decision even as we await the full judgement.
It is worrying that the Court deferred the reasons for its decisions to the 15th of July, by which time the EC would have been two weeks into the registration exercise".
“We have been very clear in our minds that the decision to compile a new voters register was in pursuit of this long-held agenda, hence our efforts to stop the wholesale attempt to exclude vast sections of our population from the process to determine who leads them.
According to him, “this represents the handiwork of a desperate incumbent that on account of its very poor performance in government sees its political survival only through the prism of manipulation of the electoral process to exclude a section of Ghanaians who they suspect may not renew their mandate at the polls”.
Mahama’s comment worrying
Reacting to this on Newsfile programme on Joy News channel, Kofi Abotsi, Dean of the University of Professional Studies, Accra (UPSA) - Law School described as worrying comments made by Mahama especially being a former President.
" . . he is the only former President that is casting aspersions against state institutions . . . I worry about the bastardization effect of his comments . . . when you have a former president making these comments; it creates a sense of worry," he bemoaned.
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