Charlotte Osei and Lauretta Lamptey
Government has fought off opposition claims it masterminded the removal of EC boss Charlotte Osei and her two deputies insisting the President only acted according to the constitution.
Information minister Mustapha Abdul-Hamid said President Akufo-Addo only acted the same way President John Mahama acted in 2015 when he removed Chairperson of the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) Mrs Lauretta Lamptey for abusing her office.
“Like now, President John Mahama, at the time, had no option but to act first on the petition, and lastly on the recommendation of the Committee”, he said at a press conference Friday.
“Remember that the President took an oath to abide by the dictates of the Constitution of Ghana, failing which he pledged to subject himself to penalties arising there from”.
Ghana’s first female chairperson of the Electoral Commission was removed on six counts of “misbehavior and incompetence” bringing her three-year-old leadership to an abrupt end.
Her own staff triggered the process of her removal in a petition to the President in July 2017 which was passed on to the Chief Justice to determine the merits of the allegations.
An investigative committee she set up has determined, the EC boss unilaterally cancelled and awarded contracts. Head of Procurement unit testified against the EC boss while she also testified against her deputies, Georgina Amankwah and Amadu Sulley.
But an enraged NDC has accused the NPP government of trying to destroy the Electoral Commission using trumped-up charges.
But the Information minister has maintained any individual who claims the removal is politically motivated does not have the interest of the nation at heart.
He maintains the removal was in strict accordance with the laws of Ghana following a petition by some staff of the EC.
“It would be tragic for the country, in the face of these facts and circumstances, for anyone to attempt to turn this matter into a party-political affair. Those who do so do not seek the welfare of the country” he said.
-Myjoyonline