Ghanaians are truly peaceful

After President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo was declared the winner of the country’s 2020 presidential election, former President John Dramani Mahama opposed the result.

Subsequently, he filed a petition at the Supreme Court on December 30, 2020 seeking some reliefs.

He asked the court to declare that the EC was in breach of Article 63(3) in the declaration of December 9, 2020; that none of the candidates satisfied the requirement of Article 63(3) of obtaining 50 percent plus one constitutional threshold; that the declaration be annulled; that an order of injunction should restrain President Akufo-Addo from holding himself out as the President of Ghana; and that an order of mandatory injunction be directed at the EC to conduct a fresh election.

The apex court began sitting on the petition on January 6, 2021.

The court made it clear that for the period the petition hearing should take, it was going to be guided by Constitutional Instrument 99 (CI99), which was enacted by Parliament in 2017 and stipulates that the petition should be determined within 42 days.

Since the Presidential election result was declared and the petition was subsequently filed, most Ghanaians have been anxious as to whether the country was going to be turned upside down by politicians and their supporters or peace would prevail.

The anxiety was not misplaced because there were a number of demonstrations against the presidential result and also against the chairman of the EC by supporters of Mr Mahama.

Certain remarks were thrown out in both private conversations and on the media landscape.

The citizenry were counting the days and expecting them to pass quickly so they would know how to handle their lives.

Finally, the judgement came yesterday and the court ruled in favour of Nana Akufo-Addo, meaning his election and inauguration have both been affirmed as legal and appropriate.

Following the judgment, the Ghanaian Times monitored the media landscape to observe if something untowards had happened.

Happily, even the doomsayers have joined the rest of the people to embrace the judgment.

According to media reports, there was no noise anywhere against the judgment and the Ghanaian Times does not expect any noise or demonstration in the days ahead.

Ghanaians have once again demonstrated that while they would fight for their rights, they would do so peacefully and that there is no need to call for war, when there is no need for it.

The Ghanaian Times wishes to congratulate all Ghanaians on the political feat and on safeguarding the peace and tranquility in the country.

However, we want to make special mention of former President Mahama, his legal team and all his supporters for accepting the ruling, however undesirable it may be to them.

We also commend President Akufo-Addo, his legal team and supporters for retaining themselves till now.

The National Peace Council, the religious bodies, non-governmental organisations, the security services and all other stakeholders also deserve commendation for contributing to the successful hearing of the petition.

Once peace has replaced the anxiety, we believe the whole country would build on the achievement and forge ahead for the betterment of the nation.