The Herald Ghana: Term limit needed for Electoral Commissioners

Charlotte Osei, the former chairperson of the Electoral Commission, raised the ranking of our democracy; when she supervised the 2016 presidential and parliamentary elections.

After her forced exit, which was planned and well executed by elements within the New Patriotic Party, fearing that the 2020 elections, will not go their way, with Charlotte Osei at the helm of affairs at the commission, a known member and sympathizer of the party in the person of Jean Mensa was appointed.

Those who gave her the benefit of the doubt, were of the expectation that, she would stamp the final seal on the country's global pecking order, but that was not to be, as she could not shake her allegiance to the New Patriotic Party.

Jeam Mensa, who is beholden to president Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, did exactly as she was told; rig the election in his favour.

Jean Mensa has not done this country any favour at all, and all well-meaning Ghanaians should be sad for it. It was a missed opportunity to build upon the successes calked in the past, when the entire world was watching.

With Ghanaians intricate political climate, managing elections is uniquely herculean that is why it is always advisable to be transparent and engage all stakeholders throughout the entire process.

This newspaper is of the firm opinion that, commissioners must be given term limit, which must be subject to renewal.

Anybody, who is appointed to chair the commission, must go through vetting like many other appointment sin this country, including the Chief Justice.

Considering the sensitive nature of the office, the ability to prove to all stakeholders that, one will be fair and impartial, must be the overriding consideration.

The reason why the temptation exists for commissioners to be beholden to whoever appointed them, is because they are not subjected to any rigorous vetting, where they will have the opportunity to tell Ghanaians that, they will fair and firm to all persons contesting election in this country.

Term limit, in the consideration of this newspaper is the way to go, if we ever want to prevent the commissioners from undermining the system.