The National Democratic Congress (NDC) challenged the results of the 2020 elections to calm the charged atmosphere and to test the legal right of the party, according to former President John Dramani Mahama.
Several anomalies, he said, occurred in the elections that affected the results and angered supporters of the opposition and he decided to rely on the provisions of the 1992 constitution by going to the apex court to resolve the matter.
He said, “We have all done elections before and at the printing press, all the political parties are supposed to send agents to the printing press.”
“We sit there from the time they start printing until we finish. When they finish, we all tally how many ballots they were asked to print, we all look at the numbers and everything and if we are satisfied then all the agents sign a certificate of completion to say that we are satisfied, that it tallies with the number you were asked to print.”
The former President disclosed these in the United States when he addressed the US Chapter of the NDC at Bentley University on Sunday March 27, 2022.
According to him, this process was done and the agents departed the printing press but one NDC agent went back to pick up his bag only to chance on one million ballot papers being printed.
“When he asked why they were printing extra ballot papers, they said the EC had asked them to print. Out of frustration, they said in case there was a second round. But seven people will not go for a second round, ballot papers for a second-round are only for two people, the top two. No proper explanation on why those ballot papers were printed, were given.”
“Some of the people were seen later carrying ballot papers and we reported them to the police. Up to date, nobody has been charged or prosecuted for carrying those extra ballot papers,” he stated.
According to the former President, these things happened in the elections, which was not free and fair so the NDC went to the Supreme Court to calm the atmosphere.
The seven-member panel of the Supreme Court by a unanimous decision dismissed the petition on March 4, 2021 on the grounds that it lacked merit.