The Supreme Court has for the third time, dismissed the application for review of the ruling in respect of leave for the petitioner, John Dramani Mahama, to re-open his case.
The ruling which was delivered on Monday, February 22, 2021, has been adverse to the request of John Dramani Mahama, was to serve as leverage for the petitioner to subpoena the chairperson of the first respondent, Mrs. Jean Mensah, who is chairperson of the Electoral Commission.
The leave of the court sort by counsel for the petitioner, Tsatsu Tsikata, to reopen the petitioner’s case, is to aid in presenting evidence before the court to show that the chairperson of the 1st respondent erred in her role as returning officer for the presidential election, hence the dispute in court.
Mr. Tsikata argued that the February 16, ruling by the court, prior to the third review application, had the court relying on the Black’s Law dictionary instead of section 26 of the statute law of Ghana, which is an enactment of jurisdiction that the court is bound by in calling a witness.
To this, Mr Tsikata added that the failure of the court to apply section 26 of the statute law of the Republic of Ghana in its earlier ruling, amounts to miscariage of justice.
Counsel for the first petitioner, Justin Amenuvor opposed the application,
He argued: “We concede that the court is not infallible but my lord, your lordships may change your mind in an application for review only when certain conditionalities have been met.”
He explained that those conditionalities have been set out, citing a 2013 Supreme Court which he said it is only when those conditionalities have been met, that the panel can seriously consider the merits of the application.
He further argued that those conditionalities have not been met and so the court should not grant the review request of the petitioner.
The counsel for the second respondent, Akoto Ampaw, also argued that the court has been patient enough to the petitioner even when they go against the directives of the court, therefore, this review application is unmeritorious and irrelevant.
He continued that counsel for the petitioner has not been able to prove to the court that he has any good reason that serves as enough grounds for the said request and therefore delimits their application.
He then prayed on the court to throw away the petitioner’s request.
The nine-member panel rose and returned which a decision that the application is wholly dismissed.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court has set Thursday, March 4, 2020 as the date to deliver judgement on the 2020 election petition case.
