The Speaker directed that the chairperson of the EC herself should appear before the house
Parliament last night sacked officials of the Electoral Commission and the National Identification Authority over the absence of EC chairperson Jean Mensa.
Officials of the EC and the NIA had been summoned to brief MPs on a new CI seeking to make the Ghana card the only proof of nationality for voter registration. The CI is also seeking to scrap the guarantor system and limit continuous registration to district offices of the EC.
The Speaker of Parliament, Alban S.K. Bagbin had directed that the Chairperson herself, Jean Mensa appear for the briefing and represented at the highest level at the next meeting of the committee with officials of the commission and the National Identification Authority (NIA).
The special budget committee on Thursday after engaging the EC over the Public Elections (Registration of Voters) Regulations, 2022 recommended the management of the EC and NIA brief the committee of the whole.
However during the meeting yesterday the EC team was led by deputy commissioner Dr. Bossman Asare while the NIA team was led by CEO Prof. Ken Attafuah.
The development got the minority MPs agitated questioning the absence of the EC boss, as they accused her of disrespecting the house.
The explanation given that Jean Mensah was equally engaged in other activities could not convince the MPs.
After heated exchanges, the house agreed the briefing be deferred until the EC boss shows up.
