Afari-Gyan spent two days in witness box, why did Jean Mensa 'dodge?' - Mahama asks
John Mahama with the EC Chairperson Jean Mensa during a 2019 meeting
Former President John Dramani Mahama has again hit out at the Electoral Commission chairperson, Jean Mensa, for refusing to testify during the 2020 Election Petition proceedings.
Read full articleAccording to Mahama, if Jean Mensa had mounted the witness box as was widely expected, the he (as petitioner) would have put critical questions to her with relation to her conduct of the last General Elections.
He cited the case of the 2012 presidential election petition where Kwadwo Afari-Gyan, the former Electoral Commissioner spent two days in the witness box answering questions from lawyers of the then-petitioner, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.
"All I am saying is that they must redeem themselves in 2024, is that not what I said? So when I am pointing out their mistakes, it is not because I hate them," Mahama said on Power FM / TV XYZ on Monday, November 9, 2021.
As for those asking for proof of recent allegations of misconduct around the poll, Mahama said: “That is why I want an investigation. So I said come in the witness box and come and testify under oath. You said you won’t do it, you fail and I am criticizing you…. If you had sat in the witness box, what grounds will I have going around saying this or that?
“Your best opportunity which was taken by your predecessor, Afari-Gyan for two days was in the witness box. The NPP asked questions from A-Z and he answered, who criticized him for it?” he stressed.
Mahama has called for independent investigations into the conduct of the 2020 polls asking preferably for a regional body from ECOWAS to lead the probe,
His party, the NDC, have meanwhile petitioned the Police seeking a probe into criminal incidents they alleged were committed. The EC through its deputy chair had weeks ago asked police to probe allegations of criminal infractions.
