Members of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) have registered their preparedness to battle through till the end, any attempts by government to attack Electoral Commissioner, Charlotte Osei and or intrude in the commission’s operations.
They described the calls for impeachment of Mrs. Charlotte Osei as “blackmail witch-hunting” attempts to rid her of her position.
Addressing pressmen at a conference held by minority members to assess President Akufo-Addo’s first six months in office, Minority Leader, Haruna Idrissu emphasized the NDC’s commitment to frustrating all attempts by the NPP to bother Mrs. Charlotte Osei particularly after they have tolerated the dismissal of several civil servants and government officials appointed by the Mahama administration since their inception in office.
“Stay off intruding into the operations and activities of the independent EC….the President’s blackmail witch hunt will fail today, fail tomorrow and will be resisted by the NDC”, Mr. Haruna warned.
The Chairperson for the Electoral Commission, Charlotte Osei has been in the news for alleged misconduct and violations of some provisions of the 1992 Constitution regarding her office, conduct and duties.
Some concerned workers of the Electoral Commission (EC) petitioned the President and Her Ladyship, the Chief Justice to begin impeachment processes against their Chairperson.
The petition, signed by private legal practitioner, Maxwell Opoku Agyemang who is counsel for the petitioners, accused Mrs. Charlotte Osei of breaching in many instances, the Procurement Law in procuring goods and services for the Commission.
They claimed that she, unilaterally and without recourse to procurement procedures, engaged the services of lawyers, Sory@Law who represented the Commission in the pre-election legal banter with aggrieved parties and disqualified flagbearers.
She was also alleged to have abrogated an existing contract with Super Tech Ltd. (STL), unilaterally renegotiating and re-awarding the contract at new sum of $21,999,592 without serious regard to the tender processes.
“The chairperson, Mrs Charlotte Osei unilaterally awarded a contract of about $25,000 to a South African company Quazar Limited to change and re-develop the Commission’s Logo under the guise of rebranding without going through tender contrary to the Public Procurement Act,” point 26 of the petition read.
The petition also cited Mrs. Osei as among other things “compromised the independence and neutrality of the Commission by arranging for 2015 V8 Land Cruiser with registration number WR 2291-15 from the Office of the President for use as official vehicle without going through the procurement process or recourse to the commission.”
Following the petition, Lawyers of Mrs. Charlotte Osei in a letter threatened a lawsuit against the petitioners for defamation of their client. They demanded a list of names of the aggrieved workers posing the allegations.
“Be that as it may, having observed from your letter by virtue of which the petition to the President is conveyed that your clients are an amorphous group of people described as “concerned staff of the Electoral Commission.” Our client has instructed us to demand from you and we hereby so demand the full list of these “concerned staff of the Electoral Commission” to enable us commence legal action against them for the defamatory statements contained in their petition failing which our client will be constrained to proceed against you alone as defendant in the suit our client intends to commence against them since you are to all intents and purposes, their agent.”, a portion of the letter read.
Read her lawyer’s letter below:
19TH JULY 2017.
MAXWELL OPOKU-AGYEMANG,
LLM (UTAH), LLM (QUEEN’S), LLB (HONS) BL (GH)
SOLICITOR OF THE SUPREME COURT OF GHANA,
P.O. BOX 179, ACCRA.
Dear Sir,
RE: PETITION AGAINST THE CHAIRPERSON OF THE ELECTORAL COMMISSION (MRS CHARLOTTE OSEI).
1.0 We write as solicitors for and on behalf of Mrs Charlotte Osei (hereafter simply called “Our client”) who is the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission of the Republic of Ghana.
2.0 Our client’s attention has been drawn to a letter dated the 13th day of July, 2017 on the above intituled subject written by your goodself and by virtue of which letter you presented to his Excellency the President of the Republic of Ghana, a petition for the “impeachment” of our client pursuant to the provisions of article 146 of the 1992 Constitution.
3.0 Having perused the said letter to which was attached the allegations on the basis of which the petition invoked the provisions of article 146 of the 1992 Constitution of the Republic of Ghana for our client’s impeachment, we have noted several defamatory statements in respect of which we have our client’s irrevocable instructions to take immediate action against your clients who have not been disclosed on the face of your letter.
4.0 At all times material to our present letter to you, your letter has received widespread publication in the mass and social media by way of radio broadcasts and discussions including comments in blatant violation of the confidentiality requirements of article 146 of the 1992 Constitution pursuant to which you have petitioned the President of the Republic of Ghana.
5.0 Be that as it may, having observed from your letter by virtue of which the petition to the President is conveyed that your clients are an amorphous group of people described as “concerned staff of the Electoral Commission.” Our client has instructed us to demand from you and we hereby so demand the full list of these “concerned staff of the Electoral Commission” to enable us commence legal action against them for the defamatory statements contained in their petition failing which our client will be constrained to proceed against you alone as defendant in the suit our client intends to commence against them since you are to all intents and purposes, their agent.
6.0 Our client’s decision to seek remedy in court for the protection of her reputation without prejudice to the article 146 proceedings triggered by you.
