I’m not autocratic – EC Boss

Chairperson of Ghana’s Electoral Commission (EC), Charlotte Osei has said she has not solely taken any decision on behalf of the commission since assuming power in 2015.

According to her, any conclusions reached on matters concerning the Commission are based on broad consultation and with the blessing of the other six commissioners.

There have been suggestions that Charlotte Osei has in some instances single-handedly taken decisions on behalf of the EC.

That claim became more pronounced following last week’s re-branding event by the Electoral Commission which saw the electoral management body changing its logo, a decision that was greeted with public anger.

It was said that the logo was changed at the instance of Mrs Charlotte Osei.

However speaking to Kwesi Pratt Jnr on TV3’s Hot Issues programme, the EC Boss stated that she is not an autocratic leader but seeks the consent of her other commissioners who have been in the system longer than her and have considerable amount of experience.

“I barely decide anything. Under the law, we are supposed to have commission meeting once in two months, but we tend to have it once or more in every month. For every decision we take either at the strategic level or at the policy level, it a decision by the commission. In most instances, it is by consensus, there have been few instances where we couldn’t quite agree we put it to a vote and the majority carries the day. In fact I don’t remember any issue that we had a major disagreement”.