The Supreme Court has set Tuesday, February 16, to rule on whether or not the 2020 National Democratic Congress presidential candidate, John Mahama, should be allowed to reopen his case.
The former President’s lawyers on Monday urged the court to grant their request saying they intend to subpoena Electoral Commission Chairperson (EC), Mrs Jean Mensa to testify.
This follows an earlier ruling by the apex court that it cannot compel a party in a case to adduce evidence if the party does not want to do so.
Arguing his case, lead counsel for Mr Mahama, Tsatsu Tsikata told the court that allegations of vote padding and instruction from the EC Chairperson to their representatives at the EC strong room have come up during the trial.
He insisted these are matters only the EC Chairperson can speak to.
According to him, they were taken by surprise when the EC Chairperson opted not to testify after submitting a witness statement, hence the decision to reopen the case and ask for a subpoena.
But this request was opposed by lawyers for the EC and President Nana Akufo-Addo, the 1st and 2nd Respondents in the election petition hearing.
Both sides insist that the petitioner is simply seeking to use the backdoor to boost a petition he has failed woefully to prove.
The two lawyers further argued that if the quest is to provide new evidence, then Mr Mahama’s team had failed to demonstrate that there is a piece of evidence they can extract from the EC Chairperson with the potential to materially affect how the case is determined.
The court has adjourned proceedings to Tuesday, February 16 to deliver its ruling.
