Caught up in Court!

It was six o’clock on a harmattan morning and the Courtroom was packed and bursting at its seams for a nine o’clock sitting. All the old but polished pews had all been occupied by party big whips and their Counsels. Everybody was busily consulting the other, twitching their necks every other second, as if on cue. Some seemed clueless and it appears some did not even know why they were there. 

Others also felt it was a sheer waste of priority because they were losing out elsewhere, but in the name of Party, they had to sit tight and cheer on as if proceedings were actually about them. Some were also feeling all-important as if they were the Judge in-wait. Men and women from both divides wore defiant looks as if they were about to sign the pact that will see the Armageddon war begin.

People from all walks of life; men and women representing the local and International, International and organized observers from some parts of the Country wearing their tags that gave them accreditation and concession than the average person.  A session of the Judiciary with their wigs and black cloaks, notable citizens of our dear nation and party faithfuls spotting party colors to show their allegiance and solidarity were all represented. The court house was charged with murmurings and near shouts from the tensed and belligerent crowd.

Sweats freely broke on the faces of the overwhelming crowd which had even rendered the old air-conditioners in the court room useless. The atmosphere was stale as people practically clung on the wooden frames that marked the window openings of the hall. They peered through the thick mass of persons that seemingly looked dumped there. The ones with good heights were readily at an advantage because with a little tweaking of their necks, they could have a pigeon view of the court room. Prudence advised some of the short ones to withdraw from the crowd around the windows to join the pockets of crowds in the court yard all through and across the major streets.

The day in perspective was supposed to be the opening of a lawsuit that has the biggest opposition party petitioning the Supreme Court to challenge the results of the recently held elections that had the EC’s Boss declaring the newly sworn-in President as the president-elect, at the time of filing their petition. 

As proclaimed by some prominent social commentators, law professors and Political scientists, the lawsuit was necessary to address the irregularities that clouted the electioneering exercise, where some EC officials were alleged to have condoned and connived with members of the ruling party to over-turn the mandate of the good people of Ghana. According to the complainants, ensuring that these anomalies were addressed in the highest Law Courts of our lands will deepen our democratic principles and credentials. They also posited that it will be a lesson for all and sundry to learn and until that fateful morning, nothing had mattered to any Ghanaian more than the slated date for the case opening.

For once, I didn’t know why I was there but the answer was illuminated even before I actually gave it a thought. I was a citizen of the nation and wanted a first-hand following of the case to avoid Ghanaians’ yese yese. If you are going to listen to someone here in Ghana narrate to you any political activity, then, you might as well ask the fellow to arrange a meeting between you and leaders of the ET Community.

Everybody belongs to one party or the other; be it a card-bearing member or just a sympathizer or up a higher notch, a descent of the party. You were bound to be handy with ten different accounts from the same event from ten different eye-witnesses, and that is how biased and opinionated the Ghanaian is.

So with the revised motivation, I decided to get ready for all these legal battles when it gets started in the next hour and forty minutes. A look at my watch and it was 7:20 a.m. Time to grab something since I had been awake for the past four hours. There were lots of proactive business people in the name of sellers who have taken advantage of the popularity of the case and had pitched their tents in the perimeters of the court. I was torn between taking Hausa koko and koose or Waakye, even though I couldn’t resist all the juicy bofrots around. 

I finally settled for Waakye and quickly found myself seated by some three Gentlemen who were eating their waakye amidst argument. I settled beside one of them and started eavesdropping, not out of incivility but because I did not have any option and the following is what ensued. I didn’t know their names but for the benefit of my reportage, I will name them appropriately to give you a visual image of who they could be likened to.

Adjingo: I can’t wait for the case to start o

Azaay: Me too

Adjingo: it won’t be easy at all

John: who says? Do you think NPP people have substantial evidence to nullify the results?

Azaay: Those NPP gurus, they are capable of everything o

John: But NDC too is not easy o

Adjingo: Herh, it won’t be easy at all

John: this whole thing baffles me. Is it even possible that the EC can rig the results for a party?

Azaay: why not, but what I don’t understand is where the NPP people were at that time?

Adjingo: Hmm, this whole thing won’t be easy at all

Azaay: that’s why I don’t trust Politicians; they have means of getting anything they want

John: you can’t even tell who is telling the truth

Adjingo: But how can NPP be telling the truth if NDC’s records tallies with that of the EC and other independent bodies that observed the Elections and even the media?

Azaay: I say these politicians are capable of everything. Who knows if the incumbent was in bed with all the aforementioned bodies?

Adjingo: But isn’t that laughable? They could possibly be in bed with everyone but the media.

John: So what will happen if the result that favored NDC turns out to be false?

Azaay: That is what most people are skeptical of because it would be very, very unprecedented.

John: Do you think JM will relinquish the seat in the event that the verdict is changed by the Court?

Azaay: But I hear the NPP legal team has one of the best legal brains in the Country o

John: But how can you win a case without substantial evidence even if you were adjudged the best lawyer?

Azaay: And how would you know if their evidence is valid or not

Adjingo: hmm, Interesting times are here and Democracy is in trouble….

I was almost carried away by the conversation between the three men until I was disrupted by a call I was not going to pick anyway. The whole environment was immersed in one big furore and most of the people present were lost in the euphoria but my eating mates couldn’t be bothered at all. They were cross-examining the case at hand at a public court of opinions like anyone else around the premises and those at home. I quickly emptied my bowl of waakye to rejoin the crowd just in time to witness the immaculate Judge of the August house hit the desk with his gavel and with a stern face, as he bellowed Order! Order! Order! to officially announce his presence and to mark proceedings of the millennium case.