Former Citi FM journalist Richard Dela Sky has outlined the key legal determinations made by the Supreme Court's ruling on the 2020 Election Petition filed by National Democratic Congress (NDC) flagbearer John Dramani Mahama.
The summary is as follows:
- Reasonable Cause of Action: The Supreme Court acknowledges that the petition discloses a reasonable cause of action. Contrary to claims, it is deemed not “vexatious.”
- Impact of Jean Mensa's Errors on Results Validity: The court asserts that errors made by Jean Mensa, Chairperson of the Electoral Commission, should not affect the validity of the election results. Corrections made by Mrs Mensa do not undermine the legitimacy of the results, with Nana Addo securing over 50% of the votes.
- Exclusion of Techiman South Constituency Results: The court rules that the exclusion of Techiman South Constituency results did not impede Nana Addo from attaining more than 50% of the valid votes, whether included or not.
- Constitutionality of Result Declaration on Dec 9, 2020: The court determined that the declaration of results on December 9, 2020, was not unconstitutional. The burden of proof for any alleged violation rests on the petitioner, and in this case, no credible evidence has been presented to contest the validity of the results. The Constitution was not violated.
- Impact of Alleged Vote Padding and Violations on Results Validity: The court dismisses the notion that alleged vote padding or other violations affected the validity of the results. Even if such allegations were proven, the minimal impact would not have invalidated the election results.
The petition is “DISMISSED” as having “NO MERITS!” The court affirms that the election results reflect the true will of the Ghanaian people, and the Constitution was not violated during the electoral process.