Election Petition: Electoral Commission breaks silence on Supreme Court ruling

Dr Bossman Asare, the deputy chairman of the Electoral Commission

Ghana’s Electoral Commission has for the first time commented on the Supreme Court’s ruling on the 2020 election petition that was brought against it (EC) by the flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress, NDC.

John Dramani Mahama’s quest to have the results of the elections overturned was rendered fruitless as the Supreme Court found no merit in his case.

The seven-member Supreme Court panel ruled unanimously that while John Dramani Mahama had legitimate concerns about the results he could not adduce evidence to validate the claims he was making against the EC.

“The petitioner has not produced any evidence to rebut the presumptions created by the publication of CI 135 for which his action has failed. We have, therefore, no reason to order for a rerun … we accordingly dismiss the petition as having no merit,” Chief Justice Anin-Yeboah said while announcing the judgment in early March.

Dr Bossman Asare, the deputy chairman of the Electoral Commission told Asaase FM that the ruling of the court is a vindication of their work.

“We were relieved right after the election because we know we did the right thing. The [Supreme] Court gave us an international vindication, so for us life is just normal; we have a lot of things, review of the election et cetera that we must engage in,” he said.

He urged the country to move on from the petition and assured that the EC is working to enhance its election organization and delivery mandate.

“As a Commission, we are doing what we have to do. There are a lot of administrative measures that must be put in place so that in future we’ll continue to be ahead of the game. I think for us we didn’t see the court case as a challenge… we know it’s part of the work and life must go on,” he said.