Charlotte Osei, EC Boss
ALLIANCE FOR Accountable Governance (AFAG) has appealed to Chatham House London to remove the name of Charlotte Osei, Chairperson of Ghana’s Electoral Commission (EC), from the 2017 Chatham House list of nominees to be awarded by the Royal Institute of International Affairs of UK.
It has petitioned the British High Commission in Ghana to wade into the matter and block the EC boss from further competing for the award.
AFAG made the call yesterday at a press conference in Accra, saying emphatically that Ms. Osei, who organized Ghana’s 2016 presidential and parliament elections, is unfit for the prestigious award.
Citing 14 reasons for protesting against Madam Osei’s nomination which is expected to be presented at the end of this month in the UK, AFAG, which has had some issues with the EC boss since her appointment by former President Mahama, said the peace being enjoyed by Ghana after the 2016 general election could not be credited to her.
Key among the reasons cited by AFAG are: under Madam Osei’s leadership, the EC was dragged to court 12 times in 2016; her refusal to comply with the Supreme Court’s rulings and the high level of mistrust between her and other commissioners of the EC.
“Clearly, this is not a hallmark of award-winning performance,” said Henry Hanna Asante, Vice Chairman of AFAG, who addressed the media.
He indicated that the peaceful outcomes of the 2016 polls were as a result of the collective efforts of every Ghanaian and political parties to uphold peace and that the EC boss alone could not be credited for it.
In the view of AFAG, Madam Osei “did a lot harm than good” and most importantly, has no track record of good performance over the years and thus it would be unthinkable for a character like her to be given such a prestigious award which former President Kufuor won in 2008.
On April 3, 2017, Chatham House London published on its website nominees for the 2017 Chatham House Prize to be awarded by the Royal Institute of International Affairs of the UK. The winner would be announced at a ceremony in autumn this year.
Madam Osei is competing with nominees like Juan Manuel Santos, President of Colombia, for formally ratifying a peace agreement with the FARC rebel group and bringing an end to the war in Colombia and Jens Stoltenberg, Secretary-General of NATO, for steering NATO through one of the most complicated periods in its recent history.
CENAB UK, a pro-New Patriotic Party (NPP) advocacy group based in the United Kingdom, had earlier equally registered its displeasure about the nomination of Ms Charlotte Osei, describing it as flawed and undeserving.
According to CENAB, Charlotte Osei’s obstinate posture not to allow for a transparent process before the elections led to some street protests by Ghanaians.
One of such peaceful demonstrations, it said, turned violent when the police brutalized ordinary Ghanaians, adding, “In the process, one gentleman lost one of his eyes as a result of fired rubber bullets by the police.”
BY Melvin Tarlue