The opposition National Democratic Congress has warned President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to stop attempts to remove the Chairperson of the “independent” Electoral Commission, Charlotte Osei.
According to the NDC, they will resist the “blackmail witch-hunting” of the head of the election management body.
Addressing a press conference Thursday, Minority Leader and Member of Parliament for Tamale South Haruna Iddrisu cautioned the President to “stay off and [stop] intruding into the operations and activities of the independent electoral commission of Ghana. While we have accommodated him sweeping off the civil and public service and replacing them with officials of the New Patriotic Party, we are unable to accept and live with any attempt by him to erode public confidence in the independent electoral commission”.
The warning to the NPP and the president comes after the Electoral Commission Chairperson Osei on Wednesday challenged the lawyer representing the concerned staff of the electoral commission who are demanding her removal from office.
In a statement Wednesday, lawyers for Mrs. Osei dared the law firm of Maxwell Opoku Agyeman, to provide the full details of the petitioners or face her in court.
A statement signed on the letterhead of Lawyer Opoku Agyeman’s law firm noted that a petition has been presented to the president to trigger an impeachment process against Mrs Osei.
Among other things, the petition said the EC chair “single-handedly renegotiated the contract with the vendor without the involvement of the members of the Commission, not even the deputies. She then awarded the contract to the tune of $21,999,592 without going through tender contrary to the Public Procurement Act. The Chairperson then re-awarded these contracts without approval from the Commission”.
