ELECTION PETITION SAGA

By Tetteh Ahumah Bosco, Accra- Ghana

Justice Atugubah

For watchers of the proceedings some are saying that a careful analysis of the way the case has transpired so far will indicate where the chips may fall…in terms of the objections, questioning and voting history of the Judges…

Welcome to this new blog dubbed Daddy B on the Beat. I will be sharing my thoughts with you on a wide range of issues from politics to entertainment and anything in between that catches my attention.

For instance so much is going on in Ghana in terms of the petition before the Supreme Court over who really won the 2012 elections in Ghana. On August 29, 2013 the nine justices of the Supreme Court will deliver what is expected to be a landmark ruling on who should occupy the Flagstaff House and steer the ship of state for the next four years.

For watchers of the proceedings some are saying that a careful analysis of the way the case has transpired so far will indicate where the chips may fall…in terms of the objections, questioning and voting history of the Judges….

This petition matter has actually showcased the level of our political evolution as a nation. Point is that having reached this crossroads, where we go from now will determine how our nation develops henceforth.

When the matter of the petition came up, folks reckoned it was an exercise in futility….when the you and I were not there started popping up, observers felt aha, “dem no get case” this feeling was bolstered during the initial parts of General Mosquito’s testimony.

This feeling however became shaky when the Citi FM interview was played in court. Then by the time Afari Gyan’s definitions of over voting started unraveling, hmmmmmm, observers started to …………..

When Justice Atuguba asked the EC capo if he now appreciates that going to court is not easy, the game looked like going either way. You know, it’s like a boxing match where the champion starts strongly but midway through the bout, his stamina appears to waver and the challenger delivers some stunning combinations. Then his stamina also diminishes since he can’t knock out the champion and the champion comes in quite strongly.

By the twelfth round, both boxers have given their all, faces are puffed and bleeding and they are summoning their everything to impress the judges since they both know a knockout is out of the case, they both lack the will and strength to deliver that knockout punch.

This is indeed the situation in the matter before the Supreme Court.

As the celebrated Prof Kwesi Yankah puts it “For months an entire nation was so wrapped in pink things, anything that wasn’t pink did not matter. But there were other strange things. Loud voices on radio had made tactical retreats, advising themselves and praying to restore their voices, only after Justice William and the Supreme Panel have left the scene”.

Massa, if your name is either Sammy, Koo Kanta aka Kuranchie, Atubiga or Adorye….how could I forget my main man and big brother Sir John, then you must have experienced something that most observers didn’t. Like the good old prof says members have lost their voices for now.

It got to a time during the proceedings at the Supreme Court that one wondered whether there were no adults in the house. Then Uncle Ray and his team decided that enough was enough. The nine wise ones read the riot act and pronounced that anybody who liked could dare them.

As they say, the rest is history. At this point if the whole saga were a story being told in an African village by a fireside, the narrator would quote from Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart: “There was once a man who went to sell a goat. He led it on a thick rope which he tied around his wrist. But as he walked through the market he realized that people were pointing at him as they do a madman. He could not understand it until he looked back and saw that what he led at the end of the tether was not a goat but a heavy log of wood.”

Now the nation waits patiently for the verdict. Meantime there appears to be some rumbling…..veteran journalist Ben Ephson has opined that either way the verdict goes, the losers will face some catastrophic consequences.

In the NDC, the way DCEs are being rejected with reckless abandon amidst allegations of infighting in the party and allegations of widespread corruption portends a situation that begs for an urgent resolution otherwise Hassacas.

In the NPP, the suggestion by Ayikoi Otoo that the party ain’t using him enough and Nyaho Tamakloe’s allegation of Ayikoi being sidelined by the legal team of the petitioners and the ensuing hulabaloo, plus calls for Sir John’s head are indicative of some simmering issues that also begs for urgent resolution.

As the illustrious Chinua Achebe says, “The damage done in one year can sometimes take ten or twenty years to repair”.

The concern of many folks now is what will happen after the verdict to the extent that the United States has issued a security alert to its citizens in Ghana. However I am hugely optimistic that the way Uncle Ray aka Justice Atuguba will read the judgment on behalf of the panel of Justices will dispel any tension and ensure that the Supreme Court’s decision is received well by all.

After all both the petitioners and respondents have vowed to accept the verdict of the court; someone will however hasten to add that the same statements were made prior to the election yet we ended in court.

Let me go back to arguably one of the greatest writers of our time Igwe Achebe who advices both parties: “Do not despair. I know you will not despair. You have a manly and proud heart. A proud heart can survive a general failure because such a failure does not prick its pride. It is difficult and more bitter when a man fails alone.”

In the final analysis, Ghana should be the winner at least one of the judges has indicated that after this case, elections in Ghana will never be the same again.

See you after the verdict when go hit beat again. Abaanabo, y3b3shia, miadogo, sei goobe

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