We’ve evidence that could help impeach Charlotte Osei, her deputies – PPP

Dr. Paa Kwesi Nduom-led Progressive People’s Party says it has evidence to aid the five-member judicial committee to impeach the chairperson of the Electoral Commission Charlotte Osei and her two deputies over alleged corruption.

The party is thus praying to the Committee that is set to open impeachment proceedings against the three commissioners, to grant them an audience to present the evidence in order to bring finality to the case.

Some unnamed staff of the Electoral Commission in July 2017 petitioned President Nana Akufo-Addo to remove Mrs. Osei over alleged abuse of office, causing financial loss to the state and breaches of Ghana’s procurement laws.

Mrs. Osei denied the claims which she described as unfounded and accused her deputies, Amadu Sulley and Mrs Georgina Opoku-Amankwaa, who are also facing impeachment over allegation of corruption, as masterminds of the petition.

President Akufo-Addo notwithstanding, forwarded the petition to the Chief Justice, Sophia Akuffo, who has established a prima facie case against the three.

They have subsequently been invited by the Chief Justice to appear before the Committee for the impeachment hearing.

But ahead of the hearing, the PPP wants to be made a part of the case so it could adduce evidence that it believes would aid in determining the case once and for all, and avoid another petition from other quarters.

“The PPP shall support every effort to cleanse our public institutions of arrogance, abuse of power and complete disregard for public law and order,” it said in a statement Tuesday.

Executive Director of PPP, Richard Armah, said on TV3’s News@10 Tuesday night that the party has “some evidence that the committee must hear and add to their work because it is in the interest of justice that finality is brought to every litigation.

“We are asking for an audience before that committee so that we also present the pieces of evidence that we have against the members of the Electoral Commission based on which we believe we can bring a finality to the matter so that Ghana can move forward and prepare for a new Electoral Commission before the 2020 election,” he added.

Mr. Armah said there were a lot of evidence around that people have not averse their minds to but declined to state what the evidence are except one that he said had to do with the disqualification of Dr. Nduom which was reversed by the High Court.

“The Electoral Commissioner madam Charlotte Osei swore on affidavit and lied to the High Court chaired by Justice Kyei Baffour that they were in a hurry to go and print electoral materials outside the country.

“It turned out to be that those electoral materials were being printed in this country. That was perjury in the first instance but of course because we were very much interested in just getting our candidate reinstated, we didn’t want to go into the nitty-gritties of the other violations that the electoral commission chairperson meted out to the public institutions and individuals in this country,” he added.

Once a committee has been set up to investigate the allegations against the commissioners, he said, it is important that all evidences against them is made available to them to review and make a final determination on the matter.

“It will be in the best interest of the judiciary if we are given the opportunity to be heard so that whatever we have against them, can also be added to the current petition before them, then a final determination would be made without any other petition afterwards,” Mr. Armah said