Veteran Journalist and Managing Editor of The Insight Newspaper, Kwesi Pratt Jnr., believes "pink sheets" are not the only form of evidence that a political party can adduce in court to back claims of an electoral fraud.
To him, eventhough pink sheets can be considered as ‘election bible', factual evidence in the form of visuals which show figures of the elections being tampered with to aid the incumbent, cannot also be discounted.
He was responding to calls by the New Patriotic Party (NPP) on the National Democratic Congress (NDC) to proceed to the legal arena instead of just making sentimental pronouncements and back claims that it (opposition party) won the majority of seats in parliament and the presidency in the December 7 polls with pink sheet evidence.
“I have heard so many people who’ve come up and say if you have any problem go and bring your pink sheets. I don’t think that is a correct attitude,” he opined.
Show us your pink sheets – NPP’s IT guru dares NDC
The IT Director of the NPP, Mr. Joe Anokye, earlier this week, threw a challenge to the biggest opposition party after claims by its Director of Elections, Mr. Elvis Afriyie Ankrah that the NDC has won 140 seats in parliament and projected its flagbearer, Mr. John Dramani Mahama as president-elect despite EC’s declaration.
Every dispute not about pink sheets
Kwesi Pratt, who was speaking on Wednesday's edition of Good Morning Ghana on Metro TV, said considering the contentious nature of the 2020 polls, an independent forensic audit of the election results will be a better option than pink sheets.
“Yes, pink sheets are important, yes pink sheets are considered as the bible of election declarations right from the polling stations to the collation centers, so pink sheets are important, but it is not everything that the pink sheet tells us and it is not every dispute that is about the pink sheets . . .
“Here, we have a case where figures don’t add up, here we have a case where percentages don’t add up, so an independent audit of what the EC has declared even without pink sheet should be able to give us satisfaction,” he added.
Election figures questionable
Mr. Pratt also doubt figures declared by the Chairperson of the Electoral Commissioner that saw Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo winning the December 7, presidential polls.
“If you use the figures the EC presented, some mathematicians have come to the conclusion that now the percentage will now rise (beyond 100%),” he asserted.
Court can’t always resolve election disputes
According to the veteran journalist, the idea of political parties seeking legal redress in electoral disputes is ‘not always the best’.
“Yes, political parties may decide to go to court, but I submit, submit seriously that it is not only the court which can help us resolve the matter before us. Even auditing firms can help us to establish the true state of the results released by the EC,” he pontificated.
Source: King Edward Ambrose Washman Addo/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana
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Stomach journalist, hypocrite. Go out and demonstrate
Any person who tries to underrate the importance of the pink sheet in our electoral process is just being dishonest. Then, the recordings on the pink sheet demonstrate the relevant figures which reflect the basis for the EC organizing free and faire elections and declaring the winner of the same. Tallying up and collating the figures on the pink sheet can be faulty but at the end of the day a genuine pink sheet can go a long way to help sort things out. The genuineness of the pink sheet requires that all the stake holders are required to attest it by their signatures. Hence the pink sheet is very important in our electoral process. Therefore, no amount of discrediting the pink sheet by Kwesi Pratt can prove otherwise.
Mr. Prat will continue to bleed. Your hypocrisy is distroying your kind heart as a journalist.
Stomach journalism.
Rubbish, in 2012 during the Supreme Court hearing wasn’t KPMG contracted to carry audit on the pink sheets. Audit is not carried in isolation, the court calls for audit and the the EC.Kwesi Prat must come again, his submission defiles logic.
Kwesi Pratt is so disunhonest that I hardly nbelieve he is a journalist.
This to me is the most absurd submission ever to be made by Kwesi Pratt. I am shocked an astute and respected journalist of his caliber would spew such rubbish, pardon my language. Granted, there is the need to undertake an audit of the process, which body in Ghana can cause such an audit to be undertaken? Is it not the law Court? Why is difficult for some people just to call Mr Mahama out and flatly point out to him that he's lost. We have to move on as a country for Christ sake. People talking trash like Kwesi Pratt should kindly shush it!!! We are tired of you lots
Never knew kwesi prat is ***barred word*** like that if truly he said so! Elders are now ***barred word*** in this country! They should arrest JM! He never been to prison so he think Ghana is for him! Why don’t u go to court? It’s happens 2012 mean I hate politicians because they are all corrupt like that kwesi prat or whatever! ***barred word*** man
DID UNCLE KWESI PRAT TRULY MADE THIS COMMENT?IF SO THEN THERE IS SOMETHING WRONG WITH THIS COUNTRY WAS HE THERE DURING THE LONG HEARING OF THE 2012 ELECTION PETITION?