Rawlings urges justices of Supreme Court to satisfy all with ruling
Former President Jerry John Rawlings has urged the justices of the Supreme Court to deliver a ruling on the election petition that will inspire the confidence of both the winners and the losers.
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For him, such a ruling would further go to strengthen and protect Ghana’s political process, national cohesion and self-belief.
“Justice is perhaps one of the most essential and intrinsic contributions to the internal equilibrium of the soul”, Mr Rawlings said when he addressed participants at a high level summit in Accra organised by the National Peace Council and the Manhyia Palace last Friday.
According to the former president, there were serious battles ahead of the country, including corruption and economic battles as well as the burning down of markets and crime, and stressed that, “let us get this one out of way and take on the others. We need to move on.”
The summit, which was on the theme “ Justice, Peace and Reform will Strengthen Ghana”, brought together clergymen, political leaders, members of the diplomatic corps and traditional authorities.
The summit was convened to get the commitment of the citizenry and especially supporters of the two political parties in the litigation to preserve the current peace in the country after the court delivers its verdict.
Mr Rawlings submitted that the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP) have a patriotic duty to protect the sanctity of the democratic process by properly educating their followers on the role of the judiciary, and the fact that decisions “may not automatically go in favour of their party.”
The media was not left out in the peace process when he called on journalists to revise their approach to reporting electoral disputes and be guided by the principle of their agenda-setting role by always protecting the national interest “and not be tarnished by the petty, biased and parochial political agenda some of them pursue.”
He explained that many Ghanaians had access to various social media and thus his admonishment did not only go to the mainstream media but also to all those who had taken it upon themselves to pursue their freedoms in charged rooms by engaging in vitriolic political agenda that have the capacity to negatively influence unsuspecting users of such forums.
“Hiding behind the internet to pursue a dirty political agenda is cowardly. And this is no less cowardly than those journalists who boldly fabricate stories as a way of protecting their paymasters,” Mr Rawlings added.
He chided the press for not objectively disseminating news about the ongoing petition which contributed to unduly raising the political temperature.
He said political, traditional and opinion leaders had a part to play in ensuring peace and unity for the country and cautioned against relegating that responsibility to a select few.
“At the end of the day our response to the ruling will indicate how mature we are as a people and how our political process has evolved. We cannot afford to fail this test,” the former Ghanaian leader stated.
Mr Rawlings identified a weakness in the political system which had to do with the impression the political leadership often created that an individual party had to win at all costs and failure to do so meant something untoward might have taken place.
Such attitudes, for him, could not be allowed to affect their supporters’ perceptions in the run up to the Supreme Court ruling.
By Sebastian Syme/Daily Graphic/Ghana