Jean Mensa (2nd from left) with other commissioners of the EC
The vice president of IMANI Africa, Bright Simons, has urged the heads of the Electoral Commission of Ghana, including the chairperson, Jean Mensa, to inform President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo that they cannot work with Dr. Peter Appiahene, a newly appointed member of the commission.
He said that he expects the EC bosses to threaten to resign if the appointment of Dr. Peter Appiahene, who is said to be a patron of TESCON, the tertiary education branch of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), is not rescinded.
In a tweet shared, on March 22, 2023, Simons said that the EC bosses must act because if the appointment of Dr Appiahene remains, it will dent the image of the commission.
“Seeing how Ghana's Electoral Commission is always on the defensive about being totally independent & professional, I expect the top bosses to inform the Prez that they'd rather resign than work with partisan activists as that'll sully the EC's reputation!” parts of the tweet read.
The IMANI vice president made these remarks while reacting to an article by GhanaWeb, on a viral video of Dr Peter Appiahene defending the record of the NPP governments relative to the Free SHS policy.
“… since the inception of the Republic of Ghana, how many times have you (the NDC) been in power and how many years have we, the NPP, been in power. With the little time that we have been in power, Ghanaians are the best judges and they have seen the works we have done. Our brothers the NDC are people who pick and choose statements that favour them.
“… before free SHS, it was even difficult for our parents to go to church but after the implementation of the free SHS our parents are going to church and the dressing of our mothers, if you go to the Methodist Church, Wesley, has even changed,” he said in Twi.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, on Monday, March 20, 2023, swore-in three new members of the Electoral Commission of Ghana (EC) at the Jubilee House.
The three new members of the EC, Dr. Peter Appiahene, Hajia Salima Ahmed Tijani, and Reverend Akua Ofori Boateng, are expected to serve in their new roles till the end of the 2024 elections and are replacements for members of the commission who recently retired.
View Simon's tweet plus videos of Dr Appiahene's remarks below:
Seeing how Ghana's Electoral Commission is always on the defensive about being totally independent & professional, I expect the top bosses to inform the Prez that they'd rather resign than work with partisan activists as that'll sully the EC's reputation!https://t.co/J1q7TRZKXQ
— Bright Simons (@BBSimons) March 22, 2023
Akufo Addo is brick by brick turning the electoral commission into the NPP’s party headquarters and the latest appointee is Dr Peter Appiahene
— Mustapha Omar Copson (@copson_don) March 22, 2023
*Member of the NPP Elections Committee.
*An NPP communicator
*TESCON PATRON @UENR.
Sad but interesting days ahead! pic.twitter.com/H3RKMREtYp
I can't imagine how this NPP man (Dr Peter Appiahene ) must be allowed to work as a member of the EC of Ghana, if he is truly the one who has been appointed by the president. Such appointments are the reasons the NPP feels entitled to misgovern, mismanage, and misrule Ghanaians pic.twitter.com/mRE8YzVfGN
— Ankuro Isaac (@AnkuroIsaac4) March 22, 2023
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