'Dumsor' hits election adjudication manual launch
The Judicial Service on Wednesday launched a book on election adjudication with a declaration by the Chief Justice, Mrs Justice Georgina Theodora Woods, that the Judiciary was adequately prepared to meet its constitutional obligations in the upcoming 2016 elections.
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According to her, the Judiciary as custodians and “guardians of rule of law’’ was ready to “guide the nation to a peaceful, orderly and credible elections.
“It is a constitutional responsibility to which, as faithful arbiters, we have pledged our unstinting loyalty, heart, soul and mind. We are assured that this is the only genuine path to a further consolidation of our democracy,’’ she said.
The high powered event, held at the Accra International Conference Centre (AICC) was , however, held in darkness following a power outage.
The picture below shows the moment when the power went off
Apart from the Chief Justice, the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission (EC), Mrs Charlotte Osei, the Attorney-General, Mrs Marietta Brew Appiah-Opong; the British High Commissioner, Mr Jon
Benjamin, Justices of the Superior Courts and other dignitaries attended the ceremony.
The Chief Justice, the Attorney-General, the British High Commissioner and other speakers had to read their speeches with the help of light from a mobile phone.
Interestingly, the power plant at the AICC could not be used to alleviate the situation because according to some of the workers, “there was no fuel to power it’’.
To provide some form of lightening, workers of the AICC placed rechargeable lamps at vantage points in the auditorium.
Despite the darkness, the Judicial Service, the organisers of the event, were able to steer the programme to a successful end.
Participants even managed to burst into laughter following a joke which linked elections and darkness by the British High Commissioner.
Mr Benjamin joked about how the United Kingdom’s Foreign Office asked him whether he had a fair idea about the election results or he was being kept in the dark.