Jean Mensa ‘no-show’ surprised even justices – Tsatsu submits

Tsatsu Tsikata, lawyer for the petitioner in the ongoing Election Petition before the Supreme Court of Ghana, has advanced that even the justices were surprised when the first respondent closed their case without calling a witness.

The Electoral Commission’s lawyer, Justin Amenuvor, told the court weeks back that the EC chairperson, Jean Mensa, was not going to mount the witness box for which reason they moved to close their case.

Making arguments in support of a review application on February 22, 2021; seeking to reopen their case, Tsikata said the EC’s move surprised even the bench on the day it was widely hoped that Mrs. Mensa will take the witness box.

“We had no reason to believe that anybody in the courts could have assumed other than that she would testify. In fact, the day that it was announced that she would not testify, on that day; your Lordships themselves expressed some surprise.

“That was the reason you adjourned to the next day for arguments to be raised and so on,” Tsikata added whiles arguing before a nine-member review panel hearing an application for the reopening of the petitioner’s case.

The reopening it is argued will allow them to subpoena the EC chairperson and to treat her as a hostile witness and adduce evidence from her testimony.

The court in its earlier ruling said it could not force a person to testify in a petition like this. The EC’s lawyer and that of the second respondent have opposed the application.