New Patriotic Party (NPP) presidential candidate, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has vowed to lead the NPP to insist on allowing the electorate to select their preferred candidate during the December general election.
“The count, the collation, the transmission and the declaration of results cannot and should not be more important than the sacred, God-given right of a citizen expressing his or her choice represented by the casting of his or her ballot,” the NPP leader said in a statement commemorating the 3rd Anniversary of the ruling on the landmark presidential election petition.
Supreme Court Judgement
Exactly three years today, the Supreme Court delivered a 5-4 majority judgement on the election petition that challenged the validity of the results of the 2012 presidential election.
The NPP, through Nana Akufo-Addo; his running mate, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia and the party’s then Chairman, Jake Otanka Obetsebi-Lamptey (deceased) filed the suit but a slim majority of the nine-member panel presided over by Justice William Atuguba, rejected the challenge and affirmed John Mahama as validly elected.
Immediately after the judgement, Nana Akufo-Addo said although he disagreed with the court, he was leading the NPP to accept the verdict for the peace of the nation – a move that earned him international acclaim.
Message To Heart
In his commemoration statement yesterday, the NPP leader said, “The message from the majority on the court was clear, and to the effect that, regardless of the infractions or irregularities that might happen on Election Day, what happens at the polling station is sacred and results declared there will not be reversed. We, in the NPP, have taken that message to heart.”
Nana Akufo-Addo, who is currently on a campaign tour of the Upper East Region, said even though the sanctity of the ballot “is and must” be supreme, “It is the expression of preference involved in the casting of the ballot that is sacred – the rest of the activities are, at best, administrative exercises.”
Election Credibility
“The strength of any democracy is very much determined by the credibility of its electoral system. It is in our collective interest that we ensure that the rules and regulations for the conduct of elections are fair and transparent, and that we all develop respect for them.”
He added, “There should be no lingering questions about the legitimacy of an election, and the winning candidate at the end of the process should receive the unalloyed support of all. That is how we can strengthen our democracy and the peace and stability of our nation.”
Bad Leadership
According to Nana Addo, “With three months to the holding of the December 2016 elections, our economy is in crisis; businesses are collapsing; the cost of living is unbearably high for the ordinary person; our youth remain without employment; our children are failing in their examinations; cash and carry is effectively back in our hospitals and we are experiencing strikes all over. God did not put us on this rich land to be poor. It is bad leadership that makes us poor.”
Nana Akufo-Addo articulated, “I believe I can, in all humility, provide, with God’s guidance and the assistance of a capable team, the leadership that is needed to return Ghana onto the path of progress and prosperity, were the Ghanaian people to entrust me with their mandate. I am appealing to Ghanaians to repose their confidence in me in December, and together we shall make the Black Star of Africa rise and shine again.”
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