<<Print>>

The Supreme Court of Ghana�s decision last Thursday to declare President John Dramani Mahama as the elected President in the 2012 polls has been received with mixed reactions. While a cross section of the Ghanaian populace describe it as a miscarriage of justice, others hail the verdict as a true reflection of the decision of voters. The opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the Central Region are in the first category of people who hold that opinion. The Regional Chairman, Ekow Danquah-Smith asserts the court�s ruling on the election petition has further enlightened him on the reasons for some of the deaths that occurred during the era of former President Rawlings. According to Ekow Danquah Smith, in spite of the fact that former President Rawlings� coming on the political scene was marked by a host of unfortunate events in Ghana, he �now understands why Rawlings killed a lot of people�. �Though I am not justifying it, I now understand why Rawlings killed a lot of people�..because there is no Justice in this country. Why am I saying this? If I look at the ruling on the foreign materials that were stuffed in the box, it tells me that Ghana has a long way to go�. �...we have endorsed thievery. If it is now ok for foreign material to be put in the box, then we will also advise ourselves. In 2016, foreign materials will appear in the box and we will wait for the person who would complain,� the NPP Regional Chair explained. Mr. Ekow Danquah Smith made these comments on Hot Fm in an interview on his take on the election petition verdict. His comments also comes on the back of accusations by the lead counsel for the Third Respondent in the case, Lawyer Tsatsu Tsikata, that Justice Anin-Yeboah, one of the nine Supreme Court Judges that heard the matter, had allowed his political affiliations to cloud his judgment.