Professor Baffour Agyeman-Duah, a former senior governance advisor to the United Nations, has described the circumstances surrounding the removal of former Electoral Commission (EC) Chairperson Charlotte Osei as unusual.
He expressed concern over the process, particularly the fact that a single petition led to her dismissal.
According to Professor Agyeman-Duah, it was problematic for the president to act on just one petition by referring it to the Chief Justice for further action.
He believes that a single complaint against the head of the Commission should not have been sufficient grounds for removal.
In addressing concerns raised by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) regarding the current voter register, Professor Agyeman-Duah suggested that more effective mechanisms should be established for handling such petitions against the EC chair.
“The way the former Chair Charlotte Osei was removed was strange, just one individual submitted a petition, and that one individual’s petition was conveyed to the Supreme Court. This gives room for others to come and do the same. I think there must be a better way of handling a petition to remove the EC chair,” he said on TV3.
He proposed that the authority to appoint the chair of the commission should be removed from the president and entrusted to an independent body outside the executive branch of government.
Charlotte Osei sacked
Some concerned workers of the EC in July 2017 petitioned President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and the Chief Justice to begin impeachment processes against Charlotte Osei.
