Appointing "party members" to EC violates the spirit of law-CODEO to Prez

The move by the President, according to the trio CSOs of CODEO, Star Ghana Foundation, and Civic Forum Initiative(CFI), is a recipe for chaos.

Appointing "party members" to EC violates the spirit of law-CODEO to Prez

The Coalition of Domestic Election Observers(CODEO) has contested that the president's recent appointment of party members to the Electoral Commission violates the spirit of the Supreme laws of the country upon which he swore to protect.

The move by the President, according to the trio CSOs of CODEO, Star Ghana Foundation, and Civic Forum Initiative(CFI), is a recipe for chaos.

"We wish to note, at the outset, that, public and cross-party trust and confidence in the political neutrality of an Election Management Body(EMB) and, for that matter, in the ability of that body to deliver free, fair, and credible elections is a cardinal principle and pillar of an effective democratic election architecture. In Ghana's case, incremental progress in building public trust and confidence in the EC can be credited for our enviable record of steady democratic progress in the area of elections over the last thirty years", an excerpt of a statement read by a Member of the Advisory Board of CODEO, Rev. Dr. Fred Deegbe said.

According to the statement, recent Afrobarometer surveys have recorded declining levels of public trust in the EC, a sad matter, the CSOs highly bemoaned. Rev. Deegbe indicated that trust ratings for the EC which have shown a steady decline since 2008 are still deepening. In 2004, he indicated that close to half (48%) of Ghanaians trusted the EC. "The EC's trust ratings reduced by 8 points to 40% in 2008. In 2012, this dropped drastically to 27%. The commission's trust rating continued to trend downward in 2014, decreasing that year to 18%. However, the EC's trust ratings saw a boost in 2017 to 25%, but significantly lower than in previous years. The slight increase in trust ratings for the EC was, unfortunately, short-lived in 2019, trust in the Commission dropped to an all-time low of 10%. Trust in the EC is too important for the democratic process social peace and stability for it to remain this low or get worst", Rev. Dr. Fred Deegbe stated. "It is instructive that in the specific case of the Chairman, Deputy Chairmen, and other members of the Electoral Commission, the President's appointing power under Article 70(b) of the 1992 Constitution is to be exercised not merely " in consultation with" but on "the advice" the Council of State", the group indicated. The CSOs maintained that the spirit of Article 70(b) is unmistakable as an appointment to the EC must be treated with exceptional care, having regard to the extraordinarily sensitive and delicate nature of the role and responsibility entrusted to the EC. "In the light of the foregoing, it is our considered and strongly-held view and position that appointment to the independent and nonpartisan EC of persons who are known partisan cloud over their heads is inconsistent with the spirit of the Constitution. Furthermore, such appointments risk undermining cross-party and public trust and confidence in the EC and, thus, pose a danger to our evolving multi-party democracy", he noted. The CSOs further explained why the president's appointment of party people is inconsequential to the law, therefore, urging Madam Hajia Salima Ahmed Tijani, Dr. Peter Appiahene, and Rev. Alua Ofori Boateng to fill the vacancies on the Commission created by the earlier retirement of Mrs. Hajia Sa-Adatu Maida, Mr. Ebenezer Aggrey-Fynn and Mrs. Rebecca Kabukie Adjalo. Extensive checks indicate that Dr. Peter Appoahene upon his appointment revealed that he is an NPP activist tipped for Bono Region Minister making it a cogent reason not to have been appointed. For Hajia Salima Ahmed Tijani popularly known as Nee Salima Sani Mahama, married to one Sheikh T.B Damba, a known leading member of the ruling New Patriotic Party who was the former second National Vice Chairman of the party and served as Ghana's Ambassador to Saudi Arabia from I017 to 2021. The mother, Hajia Samata Gifty Bukari was an elected women's first vice chairperson of NPP in the Northern Region. She contested the 2020 NPP primaries for the Yendi seat amongst others. For Rev Akua Ofori-Boateng, being a priest has hosted #995TheWord on Asase Radio 99.5 since June 2020.