John Dramani Mahama, the
presidential candidate of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the 2020
general elections, has filed a motion praying the Supreme Court to allow him to
amend the writ he filed to challenge the validity of the Declaration of President-Elect
by the Electoral Commission.
Mahama in the motion for
amendment available to GhanaWeb is praying the court to correct an error or a
“mistake” in the election petition.
The mistake, as stated in the
motion was in relief (f) of the election petition.
The election petition, filed on
December 30, 2020, to challenge the outcome of the 2020 election results,
interchanged the first Respondent, namely the Electoral Commission (EC) with
the second Respondent, namely Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, in several places.
Importantly, the most important
relief being sought by the petitioner had that same error: instead of
requesting the court to order a re-run of the presidential election between the
petitioner and the declared winner Nana Akufo-Addo, the prayer was rather for a
re-run between the petitioner and the Electoral Commission.
The motion reads that during the
pre-trial conference, Counsel for and on behalf of the petitioner shall seek
leave of the Court to amend his petition as follows:
“(a) By reversing the position
and designation of the parties under paragraph (6) of the writ filed on
30/12/2020 by amending paragraph (f) of the reliefs……repeated in paragraph
35(f) of the petition by replacing ‘1st Respondent’ in the second and third
lines with ‘2nd Respondent’ to read as follows: ‘(f) An order of mandatory
injunction directing the 1st Respondent to proceed [and] conduct a second
election with petitioner and 2nd Respondent as the candidates as required under
Articles 63(4) and (5) of the Constitution.’”
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court is expected to hear the motion
for amendment on Thursday, January 14. The case will end by February 10.
Read Mahama’s motion below:
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