Why not go to court?

No election in the world, including elections in the developed world can be said to be totally free and fair. The involvement of humans in elections opens it up to errors and the magnitude of these errors in determining the winning party in an election can make the losing party want to contest such results.

The just ended election in Ghana has been met with a lot of controversies, but this is not the first time a group of people have disagreed with the Electoral Commissioner who is the returning officer for the presidential contest.

In 1992, the opposition party which was the New Patriotic Party (NPP) accused the president elect and his party of rigging the election, despite this, they did not resort to violence. They rather came out with a book, “Stolen Verdict,” which consisted of a compilation of alleged areas of electoral malfeasance in support of their claim. They later went ahead to boycott the parliamentary elections which was held in December 1992.

In 2012, the opposition party which was the New Patriotic Party (NPP) again accused the president elect and his party of rigging the election, then again, they did not resort to violence. They went to the Supreme Court to argue their case.

After the court case, a lot of reforms were recommended and they were embraced by the electoral commission to help improve the electoral processes.

In 2020, I find it difficult to understand why the National Democratic Congress (NDC) is struggling to go to court and rather considering alternatives such as inciting their followers to go for demonstrations amongst others.

Does that create the notion that they may have influenced the ruling of the Judges in 2012 and thus have no confidence in the Supreme Court?

If they believe that they won the 2012 election and as such the Judges did the right thing by ruling in their favor then they should have that same confidence in the Supreme Court. The confidence that ruling will be made in favor of the candidate who rightfully won the election.

I believe that no one is against any candidate contesting the results of the Electoral Commission as it helps strengthens democracy and helps improve the electoral processes. What people are against is resorting to violence instead of using the appropriate means.

I encourage the National Democratic Congress (NDC) to go to court once they have evidence to back their claim of having won the election. They should be rest assured that the Judges will do the right thing.