Ghana Gets New Electoral Commission Chair

President Nana Akufo-Addo of Ghana has sworn into office a new chairperson of the Electoral Commission.

The president said on Wednesday night that the chair, Jean Mensa, and her two deputies, together with a member of the commission who was also sworn-in, took office at a time when there was a considerable anxiety in the nation about the work of the EC.

He said it was the quality of their work that would reassure Ghanaians that the country’s democratic system of government would be properly nurtured by an electoral system that allowed the voices to be plainly and loudly heard.

The swearing-in of the top EC officials comes one month after the president removed from office, Charlotte Osei as the EC chair, two Deputies, Amadu Sulley (in charge of Operations) and Georgina Amankwa (in charge of Corporate Services) on grounds of stated misconduct and incompetence as found by a committee.

The committee was set up by the Chief Justice to investigate petitions levelled against them.

NAN reports that the petition against Osei alleged among others the funnelling of GHc3.9 million to partition an office, the receipt of a Toyota Land Cruiser from the Mahama government, and the use of about 14 million dollars when the Public Procurement Authority had authorised her to use only 7.5 million dollars.

Osei also responded by making allegations of corruption against her deputies.

She claimed she was only being hounded because she sought to introduce systems to curb mismanagement.

Osei accused a deputy Chairperson of the Commission of illegally signing contracts worth over GHc
40 million without her approval.

President Akufo-Addo in accordance with the constitution forwarded both petitions to the Chief Justice
to look into the matter.

(Xinhua/NAN)