President must not appoint EC members - CPP

The General Secretary of the Convention People’s Party (CPP), Nana Yaa Gyantua, has called for a review of the constitution that gives power to the president to appoint members of the Electoral Commission.

Her comments come on the back of the NDC’s petition written to the Council of State demanding the removal of two of the three appointed members of the Electoral Commission, Dr. Peter Appiahene, and Hajia Salima Ahmed Tijani.

According to the General Secretary, the Council of State are part of the appointment of the EC members. Therefore, petitioning them will not yield the needed results.

“Is it not the same council of state that was consulted to choose the people, according to the constitution, when the president appoints, he consults with the council of state before an approval is made,” she asked.

To her, the current constitution that gives the president the power to appoint has resulted in this situation.

“That is why we in the CPP, we are saying that there should be some drastic review of the constitution. The appointment of the EC should not be done by the president.”

“The appointment of the EC should be done by a committee of politicians or political parties, then whoever would have to go through the Public Service Commission, then go through parliament then swear before the speaker, she added.

Nana Yaa Gyantua was speaking on Joy News’ News File over the weekend.

Background:

The NDC alleges that two out of the three new commissioners have strong ties to the NPP

The National Democratic Congress (NDC) petitioned the Council of State to reconsider its advice to President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on the recent appointment of three members to Ghana's Electoral Commission.

The NDC claimed that two of the newly sworn-in members, Dr Peter Appiahene and Hajia Salima Ahmed Tijani, have deep roots in the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) and therefore cannot guarantee the neutrality and impartiality of the country's electoral management body.

In a letter written by the NDC’s National Chairman Johnson Asiedu Nketiah on Monday, April 17, the party provided evidence to support its claims. The letter states that "it is demonstrably clear that the positions and roles of these [two] appointees within the NPP compromise their capacity to act with any form of neutrality."

According to the NDC, Dr Appiahene has been a patron of the NPP student wing at the University of Energy and Natural Resources (UENR) since 2017, and was a member of the party's 2020 National Research and Data Analysis Team. The NDC expressed concern that his appointment to the EC would hamper public confidence in the institution and undermine the conduct of free, fair, and transparent elections in Ghana.

The NDC also alleged that Hajia Salima Ahmed Tijani is an activist of the ruling party, and that her immediate family has deep roots in the NPP. The party contends that her appointment to the Electoral Commission would compromise the neutrality and impartiality required of a member of the institution.

The NDC, therefore called on the Council of State to withdraw its advice to the President, and not to be seen as complicit in the appointment "of these patently partisan individuals to the Electoral Commission and to safeguard the integrity of the Council as far as its role in the structure of our governance architecture is concerned."

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo during the inauguration of the three new commissioners, including Reverend Akua Ofori Boateng, that their decisions were going to be scrutinized like never before. The President urged them not to be cowed into submission, but to let the expectation of the Ghanaian people spur them on to uphold the will of the people.

Mr Asiedu Nketia's letter has been copied to several international and local organizations, including the European Union Observer Team, the African Union Observer Team, the Christian Council of Ghana, the Electoral Commission, and several ambassadors.

NW/BB