Electoral Commission Chief Jean Mensa most go now

“…The reports that matter are all in:… Jean Adukwei Mensa must go…In retrospect, Charlotte… was a credible, astute, and effective leader… On the contrary…EC freshman Commissioner Mensa has become a canker on the Ghana EC, and a poor reflection on the EC and its employees…(T)hat voters in a Region or two were completely disenfranchised…There was no credible or valid reason to justify changes Jean Mensa caused to the manner votes were tabulated…from Accra… Then,…reports where the EC could not even get their arithmetic right… Jean Adukwei Mensa must go, now!…” (Prof Lungu, 3 January 2021).

The constitutional crises created by the Ghana Electoral Commission under the freshman-leadership of Jean Adukwei Mensa, previously head of the Institute of Economic Affairs, is a serious one that can only be resolved in part by her immediate departure from that hallowed position.

The reports that matter are all in.

The reports attest unpardonable cases of incompetence, callous disregard of established procedures and protocols for management of elections, and possibly, deliberate sabotage of election procedures for the benefit of the party that appointed Jean Adukwei Mensah.

Ms. Jean Adukwei Mensa must go now!

In retrospect, Charlotte Kesson-Smith Osei, the Electoral Commissioner before Jean Mensah, was a credible, astute, and effective leader.

Osei was a great credit to the Ghana elections machinery until she was unfairly dismissed in 2018, in my humble opinion, for what the Akufo Addo government alleged were breaches of “procurement laws”. To date, no government agency has shown Ghanaians how much Osei, currently Director, Electoral Institute for Sustainable Democracy in Africa, profited from those so-called breaches of “procurement laws”, totally unrelated to the mission of managing public elections.

Significantly, none of the violations of “procurement laws” detracts from Osei’s contribution to the hard-won and “carefully carved reputation” of the Ghana Electoral Commission, in Professor Ransford Gyampo-speak (Ghanaweb, 27 December 2020).

Interestingly, going back about 3 decades, the Electoral Commission’s “carefully carved reputation” was “carved” primarily during the tenure of Kwadwo Afari-Gyan, during the 1990s, up to 2015; and during Osei’s tenure, who succeeded Afari-Djan, during the 3 years that followed, that saw the election of the current NPP government in 2016, under Akufo Addo.

Plainly, Mensa had no role in establishing the reputation of that hallowed EC reputation.

On the contrary.

We submit that EC freshman Commissioner Mensa has become a canker on the Ghana EC, and a poor reflection on the EC and its employees, and supporters.

Charles Wereko-Brobby, "The unnecessary detour that has derailed the integrity of election 2020 outcome" (Ghanaweb, 18 December 2020), was to the point. Dr. Wereko-Brobby found no credible or valid reason to justify changes Jean Mensa caused to the manner votes were tabulated “to reach the outcome" she announced from Accra, tens and hundreds of miles away from the constituency centres where the votes were actually cast; locations where chain-of-custody records attested the elections sheets were, physically.

Ms. Jean Adukwei Mensa must go now!

The reports, now fully validated, attest that voters in a Region or two were completely disenfranchised and were otherwise physically prevented by EC directive from voting for a Member of Parliament (MP) in any constituency.

That is another egregious and unpardonable blemish caused by Mensa on the performance, reputation, and objectivity of the EC.

Whether, in the mind of Mensa, the reason is related to the creation of those unnecessary regions for the purpose of further balkanizing Ghana, or lack of adequate planning/preparation by the EC, or inability to put herself in the shoes of others, etc., that influenced Jean Mensa’s decision to ban citizens residing in Santrokofi, Akpafu, Likpe, Lolobi (SALL) from voting for an MP, those citizens and all Ghanaians deserve a speedy answer, and some form of compensation.

Ms. Jean Adukwei Mensa must go now!

Then, there were all those reports where the EC could not even get their arithmetic right with respect to count of votes cast (e.g. Techiman South).

Ms. Jean Adukwei Mensa must go now!

The immediate and forced departure of Mensa from the Ghana EC is conceivably a pithy but crucial step if Ghana is to begin re-positioning the Electoral Commission as an objective, credible, non-partisan public agency established by the people, supervised by the people, supported by the people, for elections across Ghana’s electoral constituencies, from north to south, east to west, from one village to another, from one town to another, from one city to the other.

Ms. Jean Adukwei Mensa must go now!

Crucially, unlike Osei, Jean Mensa failed directly at accomplishing the mission she was charged with consistent with the Constitution and her responsibilities for objectivity and non-partisanship:

“(M)anage the conduct of…public elections and Referenda…”.

Jean Mensa must go now!

Still unsettling, in our modest opinion, is the continued, radio-silence on the part of “the Council of State, Peace Council, CHRAJ, NCCE…”, (See Professor Kweku Asare, Ghanaweb, 3 January 2021) in the matter of the disenfranchisement of fellow citizens who were barred from selecting an MP by the EC under the leadership of Jean Adukwei Mensa.

So, while the Council of State, Peace Council, CHRAJ, NCCE individually and as a group take their sweet time to decide what they want to do about the matter, we declare one more time:

Ms. Jean Adukwei Mensa must go now!

So it goes, Ghana!

SUBJECT: Electoral Commission Chief Jean Mensah Most Go Now.

Prof Lungu, POWERED BY WWW.GHANAHERO.COM, 3 January 2021.