![]() ![]() Mr Abotsi observed that while parties exercise the liberty of deciding who to call, the court may exclude witnesses on the grounds that it may cause a great deal of inconvenience or delay. The Supreme Court, he added, generally is not a place where witnesses are called per se unlike courts of first instance of trial or trial courts, “so the Court has a great deal of discretion to decide which witness are called and the number of considerations going into a court deciding whether or not to exclude a witness and the question of delay is certainly one of the key principles that a court may consider in order to avoid the matter dragging to a point where indeed at the end justice may not be done.” Abotsi said the likely implication of presenting 4,800 witnesses “is delay obviously but a party obviously exercises some liberty to decide whom to call for his case even though the court also has jurisdiction to exclude witnesses being called.” In his response, the president, who together with the EC, is a respondent, said he may call 4,800 witnesses – a move some say is designed to deliberately slow down the progress of the case. ![]() Kofi Abotsi, a senior law lecturer at the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA) was speaking to Joy FM’s Super Morning show host Bernard Saibu, Tuesday on the presidential election petition brought by Nana Akufo-Addo, NPP Presidential candidate, his running-mate, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia and New Patriotic Party chairman, Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey asking the Supreme Court to nullify the declaration of President Mahama by the Electoral Commission as winner of the December polls and citing what they say were widespread irregularities which affected the outcome of the election. He said persons expecting a speedy resolution of the matter must brace for a long haul because the case is likely to travel for years. President John Mahama’s intention to call about 4,800 witnesses in his defence to the NPP’s petition challenging his declaration as winner of the 2012 election will not be the only reason the case will drag, law lecturer Ernest Kofi Abotsi has said.
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