Member of Parliament for South Dayi, Rockson-Nelson Dafeamekpor has described as politically sinful the appointment of politically exposed persons as Commissioners of the Electoral Commission of Ghana.
According to the opposition MP, the appointment of two commissioners who his party, the National Democratic Congress have alleged have strong ties to the ruling New Patriotic Party is devilish to the letter and spirit of Ghana’s 1992 Constitution.
“It’s politically unholy & Constitutionally Demonic for our EC to be populated by NPP party apparatchiks such as Jean Mensah, Bossman Asare, Dr. Serebuor, Mr. Tetteh, Dr. Atuahene who’re all dye in the wool elephants,” he wrote in a Twitter post sighted by GhanaWeb.
There has been uproar against two of three newly sworn-in commissioners of Ghana’s Electoral Commission by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.
According to the opposition National Democratic Congress, Dr Peter Appiahene and Hajia Salima Ahmed Tijani, have deep roots in the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) and therefore cannot guarantee the neutrality and impartiality of the country's electoral management body.
According to the NDC, Dr Appiahene has been a patron of the NPP student wing at the University of Energy and Natural Resources (UENR) since 2017, and was a member of the party's 2020 National Research and Data Analysis Team. The NDC expressed concern that his appointment to the EC would hamper public confidence in the institution and undermine the conduct of free, fair, and transparent elections in Ghana.
The NDC also alleges that Hajia Salima Ahmed Tijani is an activist of the ruling party, and that her immediate family has deep roots in the NPP. The party contends that her appointment to the Electoral Commission would compromise the neutrality and impartiality required of a member of the institution.
However, pro-government and New Patriotic Party elements have refuted the claims by the NDC.
In their defence, government and officials of the NPP maintain that the two officers have no power to influence election results while others have sought to dissociate the two from the NPP.
Meanwhile, the NDC has petitioned the Council of State to rescind its advice to President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on the recent appointment of the said commissioners.
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Member of Parliament for South Dayi, Rockson-Nelson Dafeamekpor
