Nana Konadu Agyemang Rawlings
National Democratic Party (NDP), an offshoot party of the main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), has praised President Akufo-Addo for dismissing Mrs. Charlotte Osei as the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission (EC).
It would be recalled that President Akufo-Addo recently removed Mrs. Osei and her two deputies namely Amadu Sulley and Georgina Opoku-Amankwa from office for ‘misbehaviour’ ‘incompetence’ and abuse of procurement laws.
Their removal was based on the recommendation of a committee set up by the Chief Justice (CJ) Sophia Akuffo to investigate alleged acts of corruption, misconduct and misbehaviour concerning the three commissioners.
President Akufo-Addo’s action has sparked heated political debate, with the NDC threatening to embark on a massive demonstration to drum home its displeasure.
But NDP, whose presidential candidate, Nana Konadu Agyemang Rawlings, was arbitrarily disqualified by Charlotte Osei ahead of the 2016 presidential election, in a statement signed by its General Secretary, Alhaji Mohammed Frimpong, said “by the NDP’s encounter with the dismissed EC Chair in the run-up to the 2016 election, it was clear that in just a matter of time the Commission was going to crash in obvious managerial incompetence and stalled democracy.”
According to the statement, whilst commending President Akufo-Addo for his resoluteness amid mischievous partisan distractions, the NDP can state that the decision underscored the President’s commitment to safeguard the national purse from reckless scramble for wanton dissipation of public funds.
It continued: “EC logo splash and Mrs. Charlotte Osei’s infamous declaration that she had “seen, chosen and loved it,” began an ego trip that would lead to her scramble to wantonly dissipate public funds, monetize and auction our democracy.”
Mrs. Osei in the run-up to the 2016 general elections refused to heed to concerns raised by political parties, civil society organizations (CSOs) and the media over the move to engage a South African firm to change the EC’s logo, saying “we saw it, we loved it, we chose it.”
Her somewhat ‘rude’ defence of the introduction of the new logo then says the statement, “explains why she would still disqualify the NDP 2016 Presidential Candidate even though we filed an impeccably completed document and also after the Supreme Court had ordered her to reverse her decision and grant the NDP a hearing.”
Auction
According to the statement, “the NDP therefore throws our full support behind the President’s appropriate dismissal at the Electoral Commission as an act to safeguard our democracy from auction to the highest bidder.
In a related development, Dr. Papa Kwesi Nduom’s Progressive Peoples’ Party (PPP) and Hassan Ayariga’s All Peoples’ Congress (ACP) have hailed the sacking of the three top EC gurus.
PPP’s National Chairman, Nii Allotey Brew- Hammond said: “We believe that the independence and autonomy of the EC has been given a boost. This will engender a degree of public confidence and put to rest the soiled image of the Commission.”
Mr. Ayariga also urged the people of Ghana to embrace this decision and see it as an opportunity to reform the EC.
BY Melvin Tarlue