Posted
on: www.dailyguideghana.com
By
William Yaw Owusu
Thursday,
August 31, 2017
Details of the
second petition that is seeking the impeachment of the Chairperson of the
Electoral Commission (EC), Charlotte Osei, are coming out.
The petitioner,
Douglass Seidu, a lawyer, is claiming that Mrs Osei was in breach of public
procurement practices and provisions of the Public Procurement Act 2003 (Act
663), as well as gross financial mismanagement. He accused the EC boss of
awarding contracts amounting to GH¢249,081,895.03 and $71,406,388.80
respectively without following the required procurement processes and laws.
The petition, which was
filed on August 18 at the office of the president, claimed Mrs Charlotte Osei
unilaterally awarded contracts in the run-up to the 2016 general elections
without recourse to the 7-member commission.
There are 15 allegations
leveled against the EC boss in the fresh petition, and President Nana Addo
Dankwa Akufo-Addo has
reportedly forwarded the petition to the Chief Justice, Sophia Akuffo, pursuant
to Article 146 (3) of the 1992 Constitution. Charlotte Osei has up to September
5, 2017 to respond to a previous petition.
The new petition has
been titled: ‘In the matter of Article 46 of the 1992 Constitution and in the
matter of the removal of the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission, Mrs.
Charlotte Osei, from office on the grounds of stated misbehaviour and
incompetence.’
According to the
petitioner, the action is being initiated pursuant to Article 146 of the 1992
Constitution, to trigger impeachment proceedings against the EC chairperson.
Giving the grounds for
triggering the impeachment proceedings, the petitioner claimed that in the 2016
fiscal year, “The respondent unilaterally awarded various contracts in respect
of voters’ registration, exhibition of the voters’ register and general
elections, which contracts amount to GH¢249,081,895.03 and $71,406,388.80
respectively without following the required procurement processes and laws.”
According to Mr Douglass
Seidu, the EC boss allegedly failed, neglected and refused “to subject the said
contracts to the Entity Tender Board and the Tender Review Committees, contrary
to Public Procurement Act 2003 (Act 663) (as amended).”
The petitioner
attached as exhibit a summary for the said contracts awarded by Mrs. Osei
allegedly without recourse to the Entity and Tender Review Committee, as well
as the copies for the actual contract.
Mr Douglass Seidu further
claimed that Mrs Osei, without recourse to the committee, unilaterally awarded
contracts to IT Market Limited and Ideyas Design Agency, amounting to
GH¢1,823,625 and GH¢19,800 respectively in apparent breach of the requirements
for tender under the Public Procurement Act; and attached exhibits to that
effect.
“The respondent failed,
neglected and refused to submit a contract awarded to Dream Oval Limited to
competitive tender and unilaterally awarded a contract amounting to $32,510, to
Dream Oval Limited for the development and redesign of the website of the EC,
contrary to Public Procurement Act 2003 (Act 663).”
According to Mr
Seidu, Dream Oval Limited was introduced to the commission by Ms Charlotte Osei
and therefore awarding the company the contract, she fell into a conflict of
interest situation.
Procurement Powers
The petitioner
claimed that in order to “arrogate procurement powers to herself, the EC boss,
upon assumption of office, has been chairing both the Entity Tender Board and
the Tender Review Committee of the commission at the same time.
“The respondent has
collapsed the Tender Review Committee and constituted herself into a sole
member of the review committee by sidelining the two deputy chairpersons, who
by law are also supposed to be members,” the petitioner alleged.
He said, “This
action resulted in the respondent being the sole reviewer and awarding
authority at the EC, in clear breach of oversight responsibility in public
procurement,” adding, “This has resulted to situations where the respondent unilaterally
approves and awards contracts without minutes from the Tender Review Committee.”
EC Letterhead
Mr Seidu claimed
that the EC chairperson again awarded a contract amounting to GH¢154,218 for printing
a customized letterhead “after unilaterally changing the logo of the EC,” and
the contract had been unilaterally awarded by the commissioner without recourse
to the entire commission.
“The respondent
insisted that the customized letterhead should have the names of all the
commissioners embossed on it. This has the proclivity of causing financial loss
to the state in the event that a member of the EC was to retire in the near
future,” Mr Seidu noted.
Private Company
“The unwavering
desire for the respondent to treat the EC as if it was her private company
underscores her overt lack of understanding of public administration and
amounts to incompetence,” the petition stated.
According to the
petitioner, Mrs Osei also spent GH¢265,051.46
“on her unilateral decision to rebrand the EC. This needless misappropriation of
national resources by a public official must be of grave concern to every Ghanaian.”
Initial Petition
Already, there is an
initial petition from unnamed EC staff who are being led by Lawyer Maxwell
Opoku-Agyemang, against Mrs. Osei, which is pending before the Chief Justice.
A litany of
allegations have been leveled against her, including spending GH¢3.9 million to
partition an office, receipt of a Toyota Land Cruiser from the erstwhile
Mahama-led NDC government, spending about $14 million when the Public
Procurement Authority (PPA) had authorized her to use only $7.5 million, as
well as attending Cabinet meetings during the tenure of President John Dramani
Mahama, among other issues.
Preliminary Investigations
As a result,
preliminary investigations into the purported abuse of power and corruption
scandal commenced recently.
The Chief Justice
reportedly wrote officially to the embattled EC boss to respond to the damning
allegations that could lead to her impeachment.
The two other commissioners
- Amadu Sulley, in-charge of Operations and Georgina Opoku-Amankwa, in-charge
of Corporate Services - who have running battles with Mrs. Osei, were equally
being written to for the provision of answers to counter petitions against
them, seeking their respective removals from office. That petition was said to
have been initiated by someone who is said to be very close to Charlotte Osei.
Legal experts say
that if a prima facie case is
established against any of the commissioners during the preliminary
investigations, the Chief Justice, per the rules, will then set up a committee
to fully investigate the issues and a report submitted to the president - who
forwarded the petitions for action.
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