Final hearing on the dispute over December 2012 Presidential Election in Ghana is set to take place today, as both petitioners and defendants will be given the grace of 30 minutes each to present their cases before the Supreme Court, CEOAFRICA.com gathered from Accra.

The Ghanaian constitution states that the court must issue its decision within 15 days after oral arguments are finished.

According to the deputy information minister of the country Felix Ofosu-Kwakye, the government has put extra security in place to control any form of tension which could follow the court’s final ruling.
“Our government has put in place the necessary measures to ensure that we rein in any troublemakers or any groups of people who may want to engage in acts that breach the peace. The security agencies carried out a drill in which they showed their state of readiness to be able to snuff out any outbreak of violence. The government is prepared and we expect everything to run smoothly in the coming days,” he said.

It would be recalled that the main opposition party, New Patriotic Party (NPP) had petitioned the court having cited alleged vote rigging and other irregularities, thus challenging the electoral victory of President John Dramani Mahama of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC).

 Mr. Mahama was declared winner with 50.7 percent of votes by the Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) ahead of Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo of the NPP.

Speaking further, Mr. Ofosu-Kwakye urged Ghanaians to accept the declaration of the court and avoid any form of violence. “We urge the people of Ghana to maintain this enviable record by not engaging in any acts that could mar our good name in the international community, because if people engage in violence and tear the country apart we all as a people stand to lose because no particular government can function properly in an atmosphere of chaos,” he concluded.