The election of regional representatives to the Council of State and the ruling of the Supreme Court that the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission (EC) cannot be compelled to testify in the 2020 presidential election petition filed by former President John Dramani Mahama are some of the trending stories in the Ghanaian press on Friday.
The Graphic reports that election of regional representatives to the Council of State will take place between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., after which the regional directors of the EC will declare the results.
The Electoral Commission (EC) opened nominations for aspirants to pick up nomination forms on February 1, with a filing deadline of February 4, 2021, as part of processes for electing regional representatives to the Council of State.
“Every nomination must be proposed and seconded by two (2) registered voters and supported by 20 registered voters in the region. The consent of the candidate must be endorsed thereon,” the EC said.
In an interview with the Daily Graphic, the Deputy Chairperson of the EC in charge of operations, Mr. Samuel Tettey, said the EC had supplied COVID-19 safety materials which had been delivered to all the regions.
He said the regional directors of the EC, who were the returning officers for the election, had also been briefed on their roles and asked to ensure that the COVID-19 safety protocols were observed.
He said all materials needed for the election, such as ballot boxes, ballot papers, indelible ink and notice of polls, had been delivered as well.
The newspaper says that the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission (EC), Mrs. Jean Adukwei Mensa, cannot be compelled to testify in the 2020 presidential election petition filed by former President John Dramani Mahama, the Supreme Court has ruled.
This means the EC Chairperson will not mount the witness box to be cross-examined in the petition in which Mr. Mahama, the presidential candidate of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the December 2020 elections, is challenging the declaration by her that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, the candidate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), won the presidential poll.
In a unanimous ruling yesterday, the apex court held that the rules of court and decided cases did not give it the power to order parties to call witnesses to adduce evidence if they (parties) chose not to do so.
“The law is, therefore, settled that a party will not be comepelled to enter the witness box and testify in support of his or her own case,” the court held.
The Graphic also reports that more than 450 doctors and dentists have tested positive for the novel COVID-19 which broke out in the country on March 12, last year, the Ghana Medical Association (GMA) has said.
Seven out of the affected people have died, some are in health facilities receiving treatment, while others have totally recovered from the disease.
The development has impacted the work of the over 7,000 membership of the GMA working across the 16 regions of the country.
The General Secretary of the GMA, Dr. Justice Duffu Yankson, who made this known in Accra yesterday, underscored the need for the public to strictly adhere to the safety protocols, as the virus did not respect the status of persons.
The forum was an event where four firms in the cocoa industry donated various items to the GMA ahead of the National Chocolate Day, scheduled for February 14, to support efforts by the government to contain the spread of the COVID-19.
The donors — the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), the Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA), the Cocoa Processing Company (CPC) and the Barry Carrybaut — presented face masks, personal protective equipment (PPE), sanitiser, disposable hand towels, cocoa products, among others to the GMA.
“It is our pledge to lead the fight against the virus, such that businesses and life can move back to normalcy, but we will not hesitate to emphasise the need for all members of society to play their roles because what we are currently seeing at the various COVID-19 treatment centres cannot be underestimated.
“COVID-19 is real and anyone or group of persons who think it is someone’s own imagination or someone is trying to deceive people about the virus should revise his or her notes.
The Times says that the National Security Minister-designate, Albert Kan Dapaah, has told Parliament’s Appointments Committee that the soldiers who stormed the Chamber of the House at the election of a new Speaker in the wee hours of January 7 did so on the orders of a commander.
According to him, the commander, who he did not name, felt things were getting out of hand in the Chamber, thus, deployed his subordinates to restore order in the House.
“A commander felt things were getting out of order and decided to deploy the military to restore order.
“When I saw it, I was also alarmed so, I did take the trouble to find out how it happened. It was that simple, somebody, a commander in his opinion thought that things were getting out of hand in the chamber and that he needed to go there to try to restore order.
“I questioned him ‘why did you think your presence there was going to frighten them, or could you arrest them. No, you couldn’t have arrested anybody there.
“It was an unfortunate incident and we wish it never happens again. Let me agree with you that, going forward this is not something we should encourage and hope that it doesn’t happen again,” the minister-designate told the Committee in Accra on Wednesday.
The Chief of Defence Staff, he, however, disclosed has been directed by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to investigate the incident for appropriate sanctions proffered against the said commander.
GIK/APA