Peter Suaka writes: The EC impeachment saga

She has been served with a letter of invitation to meet a committee set up by the CJ after a said prima facie case was established against her, yet, she hasn’t been served with a copy of the petition as well as a copy of the prima facie findings against her. Even at her behest, the CJ is hesitant to.

What happens to Procedural fairness of the impeachment process?

From the beginning of this impeachment saga, we were told the petitioners were twenty 22 in number constituting workers of the Electoral Commission. This figure was later revised to 17 and now we are told they are only two petitioners, and these two are said to be faceless and nameless people whose identity is under protection for national security reasons.

In the case of Lauretta Lamptey (former Commissioner of CHRAJ), the petitioner was not a matter of secrecy, and his identity was not a national security issue. Richard Nyamah who was then speaker for the pressure group Nationalist Forum remains walking evidence whose petition took the former CHRAJ boss out of her position. Why is Charlotte Osei being treated differently?? What is preventing the current CJ from disclosing the identity of these petitioners even when the accuser the (EC Chairperson) has formally written to demand for it?

It is emerging that these so-called faceless and nameless petitioners are drivers at EC. Really? A driver in Ghana abreast with issues of violations of procurement processes and issues of contracts and administrative lapses at the EC and to think about contracting a lawyer to file a petition on their behalf as a way of initiating impeachment process against the EC boss? This is Incredible! Only the NPP government can explain which schools these drivers attended.

We are also being told that these two faceless and nameless petitioners are representing the remaining 15 petitioners. Question is, which aspect of our laws can such a situation be founded?? Which part of article 146 or any other section of our constitution permit for a power of attorney on behalf of a petitioner or another in the petitioning processes??

We are told not to read political incursions into this matter. We are also told to pretend that nothing ever happened prior to the 2016 election concerning the naked attacks on the person of Charlotte Osei at her appointment. We are told to forget about what Kennedy Agyapong and Otiko Gyaaba said when Charlotte Osei was appointed the EC Chair.

We are told to have confidence in the court which found a reason to free the Delta 8 when they physically ransacked and interrupted live court proceedings but went ahead to incarcerate the montie3 which merely made derogatory remarks about the court in a radio station. We will surely fail to read political incursions into this matter because we don’t know how to do it.

But the third party judge in whose silent observation I take solace is posterity. In humility and clear-mindedness, we keenly observe with enthusiasm how Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo and his cousin Sophia Akufo handle this matter, and we have not forgotten that if for any reason Charlotte Osei chooses to visit the Supreme Court, she will be meeting Gloria Akufo, the second cousin of the president. This is what we voted for!!

We are watching!!

Peter Suaka

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