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Legal practitioner, Gary Nimako has deflated the application by lawyers for NDC 2020 Presidential candidate, John Dramani Mahama, to the Supreme Court for a leave to serve interrogatories for answers from the Electoral Commission (EC) regarding the Presidential election petition. 

The lawyers sought the court's permission to allow them ask twelve (12) questions bordering on how the Chairperson of the EC, Mrs Jean Adukwei Mensa arrived at the figures she used to declare President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo as the winner of the 2020 Presidential polls.

The 7-member Supreme Court Justices, by a unanimous decision, dismissed the application.

Dismissal of Application 

The court explained that "reference was made to the 2013 [presidential election] petition in which inter-locutories was granted by the Court.

"However, subsequent to 2013, several statutory amendments have been made by C.I. 99 of 2016 which has restricted the practice and procedure of this court as regards Election Petition.

"Indeed, Rule 69 of the Supreme Court amendment in C.I. 99 directed the expeditious disposal of petitions and sets timeliness for this court to dispose off the petition."

"It implies that even amendments brought here and granted as well as..., subsequent statutory amendments pointed out after the 2013 [presidential election petition], has provided us with new procedural regime and strict timelines."

"We are strictly bound to comply with C.I. 90 and therefore we will not apply Order 22 of C.I. 45 of 2004 in this circumstances."

"We accordingly refuse to grant the application and same is accordingly dismissed," the court ruled.

However, the petitioner's lawyers are said to have filed for a review of the decision of the court regarding their application.

Interpretation of Application

Delivering interpretation of the NDC Lawyers' application for interrogatories, Lawyer Gary Nimako cautiously revealed the petitioner's lawyers' plan is to play tricks to delay the court proceedings.

He described the lawyers' practice as a ''delay mechanism'', which he explained as a common practice by lawyers, particularly those who don't have a good case in court.

''Let me be honest with you. We, lawyers, have tricks. When we don't have a good case, we try to delay the case in court...clearly, I think, from looking at the way things are going and I say this with a little caution, Mr. John Mahama's lawyers [I think they] are not really interested in the expeditious hearing of the case. What they want to do is to waste the court's time but this court has got a timeline to deal with this matter and therefore I hold the view that the court must proceed expeditiously. We cannot stay in this country for 8 months to hear another election petition. That's not going to happen.

''I'm telling you this is only a delay tactics mechanism so that the court won't go into the merits of the matter because every lawyer knows that you win a case on the strength of your case in court'', he told host Nana Yaw Kesseh on Peace FM's ''Kokrokoo''.

Laywer Nimako appealed to the court to expedite proceedings in accordance with the law because the matter stressing ''we're not going to stay in court again for another 8 months before a verdict is given''.

''The guiding principle for the court proceedings is expeditious trial...There's a timeline to this matter'', he expounded.

The court hearing is said to last for 42 working days, after which a verdict should be delivered on the Presidential petition.