Every lawyer will tell you that every case in court is either a CRIMINAL case or a CIVIL case. Criminal case involves the Police or the Attorney General mounting a prosecution against the accused person seeking to have him convicted of having committed a crime.
Civil case does not involve the state. Usually, it is a private quarrel between two people contracts, chieftaincy cases, land matters, commercial cases and so on.
In civil cases they usually begin with one party serving you writ of summons and the law expects you to REACT within a stated time or JUDGMENT will be given against you.
This type of JUDGMENT, given because you did not react, you did not file appearance or defence we call it DEFAULT Judgement. It is a JUDGEMENT all right, carrying the force of law.
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In Ghana today we have a population of almost 40 million and the Electoral Commission tells us that those REGISTERED to vote are about 18 million but those who actually bothered to go and cast their votes on December 7, 2024 was 60.9 per cent less than 11 million - in other words seven million people stayed away.
Am I not right if I describe the recent General Elections as a DEFAULT Judgement? The greater majority of members of my party, the New Patriotic Party stayed away from voting at all.
The reality on the grounds is that there are two main political parties in Ghana today, the NPP and the NDC. Each of them comfortably commands at least 40 per cent of the voting public, making 80 per cent. The remaining 20 per cent is largely for the young fresh undecided voters, the intellectuals, floating voters and the middleclass whichever party convinces majority of this floating class carries the day.
NDC is shouting on tree tops that they have won a landslide victory, but is it really true? Take a hard look at the results, and you will see that NDC votes only marginally increased from their previous years' figures, and the big difference between them and the NPP is that most of the NPP voters stayed away, giving NDC a default Judgement. In Ashanti Region alone, NPP's World Bank, as many as two million voters stayed away from voting handing over victory to NDC on a silver platter.
But the main question is that why should NPP give NDC a chance to register a DEFAULT Judgement? In spite of massive shocks of the economy, the COVID-19, NPP registered in eight years comparatively better development agenda for but Nation. Look at higher spikes in free education at the level of free SHS, road construction, fly overs and Dr Bawumia's digitalisation moves. If NPP were doing so well for the national good, then why should NPP members themselves give away or surrender power to NDC? Why did we not react to the Court process served on us for NDC to run away with DEFAULT JUDGEMENT?
My first pathological reason is that it appears that officialdom or our leaders were so high up there that they lost touch with the ground. For the first time in the history of Ghana, as many as 90 members of Parliament from the ruling party told the old man that we don't want this Minister of Finance change him. What on earth was that particular person doing for him that he could not be sacrificed?
Reader, have you read Machiavelli's The Prince? There was a king who had a top personal assistant noted for brutalities in the city state causing great disaffection to the king. One morning, the city woke up to find that the Personal Assistant had been butchered into two with a ghastly bloody knife beside him.
Joseph Stalin ruled Russia with an iron hand, and the man who acted as his hatchet man was himself butchered to death.
Why go down because of one man? Your son? Or your what?
The most prime land in the city of Accra, Ridge, housing High Court Judges, Principal Secretaries was taken over to build a National Cathedral for Almighty God. Fortunately, in Ghana we are not short of Cathedrals and if you want to build one for Almighty God why not ask the Private Sector to take it up and do it, value for money?
Instead, men of God were put in charge of the construction and the scandals, big chaos, eight years, work done almost zero.
Every now and then horrible news will make the rounds of massive corruption in high places, look at Cecilia Dapaah and her millions and others. We are a party, serving our nation according to NPP doctrine, but see persons in the same office for eight years without reshuffle, are they saints? How do others take part in the national service?
And all told, the worst of all is how we select our Parliamentary candidates. The system has been so monetised that it is always for the highest bidder. Losing candidates because of money go independent and win.
In some constituencies some winning contestants give as much as whole taxi cabs to delegates not to talk of mattresses, sewing machines, TV sets, refrigerators, holding of primaries is harvest time for delegates the rank and file see all this and you want them to turn out in their numbers to go and vote? Let those who collected the freebies go and vote for you.
But we should not lose hope. The good phenomenon about default judgement is that IT CAN ALWAYS BE SET ASIDE.
You see all over the world, not only in Ghana, but ALL OVER THE WORLD the judiciary rests on two great principles. One of them is AUDI ALTERAM PARTEM the right to be heard.
The other day I visited my friend then Supreme Court Judge Justice Atubuga in his office and he told me as an aside that only a few weeks ago we set aside a default judgement seven years old!!!
So, my colleagues in NPP, all is not lost at all, let us start the process to rebuild the party, and set aside the default judgement.
Major Courage Quashigah, the national organiser of NPP held a seminar for all NPP Parliamentary Candidates in 2000. I was there. He told us that elections are scientific battles fought on scientific principles. Build the profile of the winning candidate and look for the person with the closest resemblance to that profile and present him and trust me, he will win, hands down.
Let us open the flood gates, allow every card bearing member of the NPP to take part in the primaries, let us thereby select a grassroots popular candidate for the party, and there is no doubt that he will win the constituency for us.
If you are a politician reading me, take it from me as an article of faith that show CONCERN for the ordinary welfare of your voters, and you will achieve ENDURING fame which is the dream of every serious politician.
Be physically present at their festive occasions, even if for a few minutes, commiserate with them at their funerals, deliver your core function which is TALKING in Parliament, let them see you regularly - of cause FAME comes with envy, jealously, betrayal, backbiting and normal human challenges - that is why you should rely on GOD for sustenance.
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God never fails.
But before I end, let me recite this confession.
Of all the Ghanaians who voted on December 7, 2024, I was the most confused voter, why?
Far back in January 2024 two men of God, each of them reverend ministers, came independently to my office and made predictions. My own church pastor Rev. Alex said repeatedly that Dr Bawumia will win massively, so big that the NDC will keep quiet. Captain write it down.
Then the other Reverend, Pastor Adotey in Kwahu, told me that Captain God will NOT give Ghana to a Muslim leader write it down. NPP will lose so heavily that if care is not taken the party will collapse.
All through the year, Rev. Alex and Rev. Adotey kept reminding me of their opposite prophecies. "Captain God will not change His mind. What is written is written....."
I am NPP. I wanted NPP to win but here is Rev. Adotey constantly calling me and telling me Captain have you heard that your own Napo has said Mahama instead of Bawumia? Have you heard this? Or that? My most reliable political intelligence advisor Prince came to my office and told me "Captain the ground is not solid but we will pass through narrowly..."
Saturday, December 7, I voted for NPP Presidential and Parliamentary, when the results started coming in, Rev. Adotey called: "Captain, are you hearing the results".
I slipped out of Berekum under the cover of darkness, got to my house in Kasoa in the dead of night to see my father-in-law's daughter asleep in the bedroom, a benediction to a bad day.
The writer is a lawyer and former Member of Parliament
