An open letter to Jean Mensa

Dear Jean Mensa,

I bring you New Year felicitations. May you live long in good health. May God's blessings and protection be with your children as well. I know you are a mother - you love your children just like any parent.

I am writing to you this letter as the rays of the sun permeate the curtains in my bedroom. The sun's rays make everything brighter, including my mood — with the clear intention of appealing to you of being a mother.

This appeal should have been through the Electoral Commission of Ghana, but I deliberately intended to reach out to you rather than the whole Commission.

At the very beginning of this letter, the aforesaid prayers only epitomized a cordiality I wished to convey to you, as you could clearly observe. However, I am fully gripped with fear after listening to the pastors in Ghana and even far away from Nigeria ringing the alarm bells that this year's parliamentary and presidential elections will be characterized by violence. Which ramifications bring untold hardships to the country. For this reason, all Ghanaians must pray to avert it. That is, by the way.

Madam, as you read to this point, you should have paused and asked yourself, why is this letter directed to me instead of the security agencies or the EC? Are you still not mesmerized even at this point as you continue to read without any bother over the relevance of this letter?

Herewith as I proceed to write while you are still unbeknown of its merit, you made countless unpardonable mistakes in the 2020 parliamentary and presidential elections, yet Ghanaians pardoned you for being a first-timer as a commissioner for the EC. Ghanaians even bittered, but thought you needed more space in a room to work on your inefficiencies.

Seriously, the current political ambiance is utterly different from the 2020 political climate. That is what you should consider to prevent avoidable mistakes from the EC since you are the Head. That is even more reason this letter has found you in the first place. For, Ghanaians won't pardon you this time for calling the presidential election results three times.

Repetition of the same manner of errors will set a platform for discontentment and belligerence by voters.

Just to whisper this to your ear if you are unaware.

The abysmal manner in which the EC had conducted the District Assembly elections has further aggravated the fears of many Ghanaians. This is why I found it necessary to appeal to your conscience even in a moment when rays of the sun are seriously beaming harder and, of course, creating inconvenience for any person to have a sound mind to write. Yet against all odds, I am unperturbed to write to you despite sweating profusely.

Madam, the year has just begun. Please, you still have 11 solid months to prepare for the elections in 2024. Start planning ahead of time so that you put your house in order. Don't wait until the last minute you try saying region (A) machines are faulty, (B) materials are unready, or region (C) cannot start on time, or collated results are subjected to errors.

These excuses will infuriate voters, and they are very likely to start revolting against your outfit and possibly the outcome of the results. This is the point the security shall have to come in. You and I know won't be happy to see Ghana in a state of such apprehensiveness.

And so, Madam Jean, you see why this letter is meant for you?

All the eight people murdered happened at collation centres where suspected irregularities and machinations were ongoing that voters had to intervene by themselves but unfortunately, got shot and killed by the security agencies.

Madam, you see why this letter is meant for you? I reiterate, that if you behave well, nobody will be killed. So behave well this time. It doesn't make sense for you and your family to have 24/7 protection while other families are exposed to bullets.

Lest I forget, Madam Jean, I hear that it is your intention to end the elections at 3:00 pm. The mind-boggling thing is, in the recent District levels elections, materials got to many polling stations across the country very late and voting was postponed. Please, if at 5:00 pm you couldn't get things right, what is your obsession over the ending of polls?

Honestly, I have no qualms with the laws of Ghana, especially so when the constitution says the EC is an independent body. That is not my rancor. I am absolutely disgruntled because you have constantly abused this autonomy. You behave like an “arrogant Queen”. Gelling well with the main opposition party and other minority parties is a sacrilege. Listening to divergent views from them is like a taboo. What has informed this posture? Maybe you forgot that autonomy is not above scrutiny and accountability. Perhaps you forgot that it is a privilege that brought you to that seat, but not a right. Maybe you think that you will remain sited there forever. Such thoughts are illusions.

Madam, before I end, let me assure you that, conduct, free, fair, and transparent elections and anyone who will malign your reputation will see another letter from me praising you. However, if you repeat the same errors you made before, during, and after the 2020 elections, I believe it will be a platform for many voters and political parties to vent their anger against you sparkling and igniting tensions in this country. This will buttress what these men of God have been preaching about. Seen?

Madam behave responsibly. Ghanaian women are breaking and setting world records and making every Ghanaian proud.

Conduct free, fair, and transparent elections in the 2024 parliamentary and presidential elections.