It’s ‘theoretically possible’ for Mahama to withdraw petition – Martin Kpebu

Martin Kpebu, a private legal practitioner has said that it is legally permissible for John Dramani Mahama, the petitioner in the 2020 election petitioner, to withdraw his case before the Supreme Court.

According to him, the rules and practices of the court allow for a case to be withdrawn at any time before judgement.

He, however, disclosed that the decision to grant the withdrawal of the suit lies within the purview of the seven judges sitting on the case.

He explains that Mahama could have unilaterally withdrawn the case at the preliminary stage but since he failed to exercise that right, he will now have to file a motion asking the judges to grant him a withdrawal.

“Theoretically it’s permissible. The rules of the court state that you can withdraw a case at any time before judgement. That is the theory. That is CI 97. But what you’ll also find is that the person has to apply to the court. The application has to advance these points very well and then it will be subject to the discretion of the court.

“So theoretically you can but practically you have to present a case to the court. The petitioner could have withdrawn without any issue at all at the beginning before the court started hearing the case proper, but now, in theory, there’s a right to withdraw but you have to persuade the court,” he told GhanaWeb on the sidelines of an IEA event.

Martin Kpebu’s legal education comes on the back of rumours that Mahama is considering withdrawing the case.

Speculations are that due to the continuous losses in applications filed before the seven justices of the court, John Mahama, acting on the advice of his counsels will likely pull out of the case.

But these reports have been dismissed by Abraham Amaliba, a member of the legal team of the NDC.

Amaliba says John Mahama and the party will follow the case to its logical conclusion.

“We are in Ghana and we all saw how the EC Chair changed the results many times. It is sad the Ghanaian media are tight-lipped, they are afraid of the ruling NPP, they are unable to voice out the truth they are aware about the elections.

“It is very sad the media are not criticizing this government as they did to the NDC. We are not considering withdrawing the case,” he told TV3.

Source: ghanaweb.com