A member of President Akufo-Addo’s legal team, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah has said the submissions by lead counsel for the petitioner in court are based on opinions rather than the law.
According to Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, although Tsatsu Tsikata provided a lengthy submission to prove a case worthy of review, it failed to win victory for the petitioner.
“You heard Tsatsu Tsikata on his feet for about an hour trying to establish the necessity for which they should be granted leave to inspect these documents.
"Yes, as a matter of fact, you'll notice that counsel for the petitioner sometimes has about an hour. Today, you'll notice that from about 9:30 am to 10:30 am there about, he was on his feet making arguments.
“It is not the one-hour submission and English that will invoke the court to exercise its discretion in this matter. You must ground it in law and prove same,” he said.
Again, he stated that the application was dismissed because “this is a court of law and not a court of public opinion.”
He further stated that Tsatsu Tsikata failed to satisfy the legal requirements expected of him, that is to prove a case of lack of authenticity by the Electoral Commission.
"When you make an application before the court, you must satisfy what the law requires and back it with authorities that are relevant or the legal invocations that are relevant," he stated.
Touching on the proceedings in court, Mr. Oppong Nkrumah stated that the legal counsel for the 1st and 2nd respondents are, however, crisp in their response and submissions.
He noted that the 1st and 2nd legal counsels are limiting themselves to the law and the legal requirement by not necessarily arguing with the bench.
"So what does the law say? That is what we are interested in."
"We don't need a lot of grammar to make our case and that is why you notice that we are not spending too much time speaking English but we are speaking law," he added.
Meanwhile, the spokesperson for the petitioner’s legal team, Marietta Brew Appiah-Oppong is resolute that John Mahama has a strong case in court.
"Irrespective of the fact that our applications have been refused; we came to the court prepared and we are ready to continue with the case. And we will go through with the case till the very end," she stated.
The Supreme Court has adjourned sitting to Friday, February 5, 2021.
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