Third witness for the petitioner in the 2020 Presidential Election Petition, Robert Joseph Mettle-Nunoo (Rojo Mettle) will give an out-of-court testimony to the Supreme Court due to ill-health.
This means the witness will be at a place outside the court and be cross-examined by lawyers in the court via video conferencing.
Counsel for all parties to the case – petitioner John Dramani Mahama, 1st Respondent Electoral Commission and the 2nd Respondent Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo – Wednesday went into conclave with the bench to discuss the possibility of Mettle-Nunoo testifying out of court due to ill health
Rojo Mettle subsequently filed his witness statement on Thursday in which he among other things stated he was misled into signing some documents at the Electoral Commission’s strong room.
Even though an agreement was reached on how today’s proceeding was going to be handled, counsel for the 2nd Defendant, Lawyer Akoto Ampaw raised a preliminary issue requesting that a judicial officer be present at the location where Rojo Mettle will be testifying from.
According to him, that is fundamental. He fears the witness may be coached or pampered during the cross-examination if there is no officer of the court around him.
Counsel for the petitioner, Lawyer Tsatsu Tsikata agreed, also stating that what has been requested is standard practice.
The court went for a 30-minute break to make arrangements to have a judicial officer in attendance for cross-examination to commence.
Rojo Mettle has since the resumption of the court sworn an oath to testify truthfully.
By P.D Wedam|3news.com|Ghana
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