Ghana’s opposition leader John Mahama, the runner-up in this month’s disputed presidential election, filed a case before the Supreme Court seeking a rerun of the vote which he has rejected as “fraudulent”.
He asked the court for an “order of mandatory injunction directing the Electoral Commission to proceed to conduct a second election”.
The petition charges that the announcement on December 9, two days after the vote, of victory for Mahama’s arch-rival Nana Akufo-Addo was “unconstitutional, null and void and of no effect whatsoever”.
The announcement was “made arbitrarily, capriciously, and with bias”, the petition reads.
Mahama, 62, also wants the court to restrain Akufo-Addo from “holding himself out as president-elect”.
The electoral commission declared 76-year-old Akufo-Addo winner with 51.59 percent of the vote, followed by Mahama with 47.36 percent.
Mahama told a news conference afterwards: “I stand before you tonight unwilling to accept the fictionalised results of a flawed election. We will take all legitimate steps to reverse this tragedy of justice.”
Observers, both Ghanaian and foreign, viewed polling in the West Africa country as generally free and fair, but police said five people were killed and 19 injured in election-related violence.
Akufo-Addo and Mahama had signed a symbolic peace pact ahead of the vote.
It was the third election battle between the rivals, and in 2012 it was Akufo-Addo who contested Mahama’s win.