Supreme Court erred in not allowing Mahama to reopen case - Dominic Ayine

He, however, said since that is the decision of the apex court, they will abide by it.

Speaking to the media after the ruling today, Dr. Ayine said: "In our view, the court was wrong; in our view, the reasons of the court were based upon wrong legal premises but the Supreme Court is the final decision-maker when it comes to the law and we are bound by what it said."

"We cannot depart from it but the lead counsel for the petitioner has indicated that he’s filing an application for review with respect to the earlier decision rendered on the 11th of February relating to their decision with effect to the compellability of the witness testimony of the Electoral Commission."

Mahama’s lead counsel, Mr Tsatsu Tsikata, had argued in court on Monday, 15 February that his side intended reopening the case so that it could subpoena the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission, Mrs Jean Mensa, as a “hostile” or “adverse” witness if leave had been granted by the court to his side’s prayer.

Mr Tsikata also insisted that for the sake of the God Mrs Mensa worships, it was important for her to mount the witness box.

In its ruling, Chief Justice Anin Yeboah quoted several authorities to buttress the court's position.

"A mere filing of a witness statement is not an election to testify", Justice Anin Yeboah said.

"As we’ve already indicated in this ruling supra, the petitioner in this application has not given us an inkling of the new or fresh evidence he wants to bring to the fore through the Chairperson of the first respondent and how that evidence could assist the court to do justice to the matters under consideration in this petition. Neither has he disclosed how that evidence will advance the cause of his petition."

"For the above-stated reasons, we find no merit or favour in the petitioner’s application to reopen his case for the sole purpose of compelling his adversaries’ intended witness to testify through a subpoena without indicating the sort of evidence he intends to solicit from the said witness and how that evidence is going to help the court in resolving the dispute before us. We accordingly refuse the application and proceed without any hesitation to dismiss it", the CJ added.