‘Allow court to decide on petition’
The Bishop of the Cape Coast Diocese of the Anglican Church, Rt. Rev.
Daniel Sylvanus Adotei Allotey, has called on the leadership of the
National Democratic Congress and the New Patriotic Party to have
confidence in the Supreme Court and allow it to properly determine the
outcome of the election petition case brought before it by the NPP.
In
his view, the NPP showed maturity by proceeding to the court after it
was dissatisfied with the outcome of the 2012 presidential election
results declared by the Electoral Commission.
He said the path chosen by the NPP was the best option available to them to seek redress.
Bishop
Allotey stated this last Friday when he addressed the opening ceremony
of the 23rd annual conference of the Anglican diocese of Cape Coast
Mothers’ Union held at the St James Anglican Church at Agona Swedru.
The
four-day event was held on the theme: “The seeds we sow” and was
attended by about 50 members drawn from the various parishes of the
church. The conference was also used to induct new members into the
union.
He advised the media against conducting interviews with
certain leaders of the NDC and the NPP on the election petition trial,
since it was unnecessary.
According to him, the pronouncements
of the general secretaries of the two political parties in the
petition, Mr Johnson Asiedu Nketiah of the NDC and Mr Kwadwo Owusu
Afriyie of the NPP since the beginning of the trial were prejudicial.
He,
therefore, called on them to desist from making further comments and
allow the justices of the Supreme Court to determine the outcome of the
trial.
He said utterances from the two leaders before and even when the trial began tended to undermine the integrity of the judiciary.
Fortunately, he said, the trial was being shown live on television which had given every Ghanaian the opportunity to follow the proceedings and that the post-courtroom sitting interviews by the media if not stopped could be a recipe for chaos and political tension in the country.
Story: Gilbert Mawuli Agbey