Posted
on: www.dailyguideghana.com
By
William Yaw Owusu
Thursday,
July 20, 2017
Some staff of the Electoral Commission (EC) have
petitioned President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to get the chief justice to
commence impeachment proceedings against Charlotte Osei, chairperson of the commission.
They are accusing her of abusing her office and
engaging in corruption, including the alleged award of contracts running into
millions of dollars and moving into a new office building - all without
recourse to the commission.
They said the EC
chairperson has been awarding contracts without consultation with the other commissioners
and also receiving a vehicle from the presidency in a clear breach of
neutrality.
The
presidency has confirmed receipt of the petition of the aggrieved EC workers.
The
six-page petition has 27-point demands, with the unnamed workers ready to make
themselves available when the need arises.
V8
Vehicle
The petitioners claim that following her appointment
as EC chair, Mrs. Osei “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.”
Documents
Removal
The staff said in order to cover her trails, “the
Chairperson has resorted to removing official documents from files.”
According to Lawyer Maxwell Opoku-Agyemang, counsel
for the petitioners, the action is being brought in accordance with Article 146
(3) of the 1992 and said the petitioners “humbly pray that the president
forward same to Her Ladyship the Chief Justice for possible impeachment
process.”
In the petition, counsel said his clients (petitioners)
are prepared to “make themselves available with all the relevant documents to
assist in the investigations.”
Award
Of Contracts
Giving details of contracts allegedly awarded by the
EC boss without recourse to the commission, the petitioners said Mrs. Osei
unilaterally abrogated a contract with a vendor and renegotiated it.
“She single-handedly renegotiated the contract with
the vendor without the involvement of the members of the Commission, not even
the deputies,” they alleged.
“The Chairperson re-awarded these contracts without
seeking approval from the Commission. In
the opinion of the Commission, these contracts could have been negotiated
further down if members of the Commission had been involved. This is because the change to the 2016 voters’
registration process required automatic reduction in these contracts,” the
petitioners claimed.
Crony
Deals
They claimed that the EC boss allegedly awarded
contracts to the tune of $14,310,961 to her cronies for the construction of
Pre-fabricated District offices without recourse to the Commission, saying that
“the value of these contracts is in excess of the approved threshold by the
Public Procurement Authority.
“One of the contractors by the name, Messrs
Contracts & Cads Limited, is related to Mrs. Charlotte Osei. Upon receipt of advance mobilization under
the approval of the Chairperson, the company has failed to meet the contract
terms, the company has requested for additional payment, which the chairperson
has approved. The Director of Finance
has stopped the payment of this request.
This accounts for one of the reasons of the Chairperson’s disaffection
for the Director of Finance.”
No
Contract Payments
According to the petitioners, Mrs. Osei has
consistently approved for payment of $76,000 to an IT company called Dream Oval
Limited, without any contract, contrary to the Financial Administration Act,
adding, “The Chairperson has submitted an estimate of over GH¢1 million for the
renovation of her official bungalow without recourse to the Commission or
appropriate staff in the Commission.”
$25,000
Logo
It has also emerged that the alleged plagiarized
logo of the EC cost the commission $25,000.
The petitioners claimed that Ms Osei unilaterally
awarded a contract of about $25,000 to a South African company - Quarzar 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.
New
Office
According to the petitioners, Charlotte Osei had claimed
that the EC had been allocated a new building for use as office complex and unilaterally
awarded a contract of GH¢3.9 million for demarcation and partitioning of the
said office complex, but all were done without the approval of the commission or
recourse to the PPA and said it formed party “of compromising her independence
and neutrality.”
The petition indicated, “The 7-member Commission has
not at any point in time formally requested for any office allocation since the
Commission sees nothing wrong with the current office.”
External
Solicitor
Petitioners said the chairperson engaged the
services of external solicitors - Sorry @ Law - without recourse to the commission
and said the move goes contrary to the PPA.
“As at now, there is no formal contractual
arrangement between the Commission and the solicitors. The basis of fees computation for services by
these lawyers still remains unknown,” they said, adding that “She frequently
travels out of the jurisdiction without informing either the Commission or any
of the deputies.”
Personal
Assistant/Consultant
According to the petitioners, the Chairperson used
grant from USAID, which constitutes public funds, to pay for the services of a
Personal Assistant and a Communication Officer who were allegedly being paid
$1,500 and $2,500 respectively and it was done without clearance from the ministry
of finance while the recruitment was done without recourse to the commission.
Partisan
Posture
The petitioners accused Mrs. Charlotte Osei of persistently
antagonizing the then opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) prior to the 2016 general
election “to the extent that she never met any of the leadership who sought
audience with her to discuss issues of concern. This is contrary to her over-patronage of the then
ruling NDC, including her attendance of Cabinet meetings.”
They claimed that the Chairperson “unilaterally
transferred District Electoral Officers she perceived to be pro-NPP to deprived
areas prior to the 2016 general election without the knowledge of the
Commission, contrary to administrative procedures. The political posture of the
Chairperson prior to the conduct of the 2016 General Election nearly pushed
Ghana to the precipice. But for the
action of technical and competent staff of the Commission, she could have
plunged the country to civil war.”
They claimed that whilst as Chairperson, she served
on the Board of Ghana Re-Insurance - a public company - contrary to Article 44 (4)
of the 1992 Constitution and also as NCCE Chairperson where she was while
holding on to the EC position.
Managerially
Inept
The petitioners said that the Chairperson since
assumption of office, does not know any region or district of the Electoral
Commission saying, “She has blatantly refused to visit any of the offices of
the Commission citing security reasons.
Surprisingly, since her assumption to duty she has never visited any of
the offices of the deputies.”
“The Chairperson is managerially and
administratively inept. She lacks
managerial experience or capacity and knowledge of corporate governance
structures and regulatory compliance. She
lacks the requisite managerial skills in public administration,” they claim.
“The Chairperson has constituted herself into the
Commission’s Tender Review Committee contrary to the Public Procurement
Act. She singularly chairs the Entity
Tender Committee and the Tender Review Committee at the same time. This puts her into conflict of interest
position and this is a clear breach of the Public Procurement Act.”
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