The New Patriotic Party (NPP) has called on former President John Dramani Mahama to render an unqualified apology to the Judiciary, especially the Supreme Court, following claims on a leaked audio recording that the National Democratic Congress (NDC) did not have a case, yet went to court over the outcome of 2020 presidential election.
A statement issued by the Director of Communications of the party, Mr. Richard Ahiagba, in Accra yesterday, also asked civil society organisations (CSOs), political watchers and, indeed, all well-meaning Ghanaians to join the NPP in demanding an apology from former President John Mahama and the NDC leadership for this disservice, which risked the democracy of the country.
The following is the full statement.
Following the mind-boggling revelations and confession by Mr Johnson AsieduNketiah, the General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), on the 2021 Presidential Election Petition, the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) calls on the NDC and its perpetual flagbearer, former President John Mahama, to render an unqualified apology to the nation’s Judiciary and the good people of Ghana for wasting everybody’s time with their deceptive election petition.
In a leaked audio recording, the NDC General Secretary, who was addressing some Party executives, stated emphatically that even though they knew that their Party [NDC] had lost the 2020 General Election on fairgrounds and therefore did not have any cause of action, they still went ahead to deceive their supporters and lie to the Ghanaian people that the election was rigged and petitioned the Supreme Court under false pretences.
Their motivation for embarking on this serpentine path, according to Mr Johnson AsieduNketiah, was purely for political expediency, as they were only seeking to avoid taking responsibility for their election defeat.
He said the NDC leadership knew at all material times that they had no evidence to challenge the outcome of the 2020 General Election but were hoping they could rely on the perceived weaknesses of the EC’s testimonies to make a case.
The NDC, led by former President John Mahama, vigorously embarked on a campaign of hate against the Judiciary, scandalizing and attacking the very integrity of the Justices and calling them UNANIMOUS FC simply because they judged rightly that his petition lacked merit. The NPP finds this conduct of the NDC leadership not only unpatriotic but also very disgraceful and unconscionable.
It is the height of misconduct for former President John Mahama and the NDC leadership to lie to their supporters that they had won the elections and ask them to come out and jubilate.
They virtually asked them to seek redress on the streets because the Electoral Commission (EC) had cheated them, which their supporters also blindly followed, terrorizing innocent Ghanaians, burning marketing, and destroying private and public property. They also wasted time and resources of the court for months when they knew they had no case.
That conduct alone could have plunged the nation into chaos and made nonsense of the enviable reputation of Ghana as the beacon of democracy in Africa.
That was not all; the NDC MP, led by Hon HarunaIddrisu, also hit the street and stormed the EC premises, knowing all along that they had lost the election fair and square.
On the strength of the NDC’s own confession, the NPP invites CSOs, political watchers and indeed all well-meaning Ghanaians to join the New Patriotic Party in demanding an apology from former President John Mahama and the NDC leadership for this disservice to the country, which risked our democracy.
Our country has come a long way in our democratic journey, and stakeholders, we are all expected to protect and defend this enviable feat which has made Ghana, a shining example to other African countries and the world.
With their confessed deceit in the 2021 Election Petition, the next time the NDC claim they have been cheated in any election, no one should take their word for it, especially in 2024.
