Asiedu Nketiah discloses what Council of State told the NDC about Dr Appiahene’s appointment

The National Chairman of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) has disclosed supposed details of a response given to his party by the Council of State after they petitioned the council about President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo's appointment of Dr Peter Appiahene to the EC.

According to Johnson Asiedu Nketiah, following the commotion created by the appointment of Dr Appiahene a known member of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) as one of the deputy commissioners at the Electoral Commission of Ghana (EC), the NDC petitioned the Council of State to intervene.

But to their surprise, he said, the council wrote back and told them that there is nothing wrong with Dr Appiahene’s appointment.

He added that the council told the NDC that it only looks at the competence of people and not their political affiliation when advising the president on appointments.

“Do you know the response the council gave us? They said they don’t look into political affiliation and that all they do is look at the person's CV and his/her qualification to ascertain whether s/he can do the job.

“This was the response given to us given by the Council of State, signed by Nana Otuo Siriboe II (the Chairman of the council),” he said in Twi in an interview on Radio Gold on Thursday, August 3, 2023.

Background:

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, on Monday, March 20, 2023, swore-in three new members of the Electoral Commission of Ghana (EC) at the Jubilee House.

The three new members of the EC, Dr. Peter Appiahene, Hajia Salima Ahmed Tijani, and Reverend Akua Ofori Boateng, are expected to serve in their new roles until the end of the 2024 elections and are replacements for members of the commission who recently retired.

Akufo-Addo has been heavily criticized for the appointment because some of the appointees are said to be known members of the New Patriotic Party (NPP).

The president is being particularly berated for the appointment of Dr. Peter Appiahene, who is said to be a patron of TESCON, the tertiary education branch of the NPP and Salima Ahmed Tijani, whose family relations are leading members of the NPP.

Watch the interview below:

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