By William
Yaw Owusu
Thursday
February 22, 2018
The embattled Chairperson of the Electoral
Commission (EC), Charlotte Osei, has been accused of running a ‘one-man’ show -
failing to carry along other commissioners.
The EC boss is said to have refused to hold meetings
with other six commissioners to discuss the way forward for the independent
electoral body.
According to information available to DAILY
GUIDE, the commissioners have not held a single meeting for about a
year in clear breach of the EC Act 1993; and activities at the state
institution appear to have been put on hold currently.
No
Meetings
DAILY
GUIDE understands that it is the duty of Mrs Charlotte
Osei to convene meetings to deliberate on the activities of the commission, but
she had allegedly refused to do so, leaving her colleague commissioners very
frustrated.
As a result, one of the commissioners, Ebenezer Aggrey-Fynn, has written a
strongly-worded memo to the chairperson, asking her to arrange a meeting with
immediate effect to enable the commission to carry out its functions.
He gave the EC boss a one-week ultimatum, failure of
which he said he was going to use every legal avenue to get the matter settled.
The memo - a copy of which is in possession of DAILY
GUIDE - was written on February 16, 2018 and was copied to Mrs Osei and
her deputies in-charge of Operations and Corporate Services, as well as other
members of the commission.
Constitutional
Breach
The memo is suggesting that Mrs. Charlotte Osei is
running the commission as a sole commissioner, contrary to the 1992
Constitution.
According to Mr Aggrey-Fynn, a similar letter he
sent to Mrs. Charlotte Osei on August 21, last year to enquire about the
reasons for the failure to hold commission meetings fell on deaf ears.
“My memo dated 21st August, 2017 on the
above subject refers. Regrettably, I am yet to receive an acknowledgement of it
nor seen any action on the content,” frustrated Mr. Aggrey-Fynn said.
Mandatory
Provision
He drew the attention of the chairperson to Section
6 (1) (Act 451) - The Electoral Commission Act 1993 - which states that “The
Commission shall meet at least once every two months.”
He said the EC boss should know that “the members of
the commission are held jointly and severally for the actions and inactions of
the commission.”
Sole
Commissioner
The worried commission member said, “It is sad to
note that you (Mrs. Charlotte Osei) have positioned yourself in a manner that
suggests that you are a Sole Commissioner, contrary to the 1992 Constitution.”
Demand
Notice
“I am by this memo demanding that you call a
commission meeting immediately to enable the commission to carry out its
functions,” he declared.
He indicated, “Failure to hear from you by 23rd
February, 2018 on my request, will leave me with no option than to explore
other options of compelling you to do so to enable me perform my constitutional
mandate as a member of the commission.”
Frosty
Relationship
The public uproar that ensued following a series of
petitions and counter-petitions filed against Mrs. Charlotte Osei and her
deputies - Alhaji Amadu Sule (Operations) and Mrs Georgina Opoku-Amankwaa
(Corporate Service) - gave an indication that all is not well among the
commissioners.
It is public knowledge that some of the
commissioners, including Mrs. Charlotte Osei, are not on talking terms and it
was evident when she led the EC team to face a parliamentary committee last
year.
Some of the commissioners are also reportedly
required to fill the visitor’s form anytime they want to see Mrs. Charlotte
Osei.
Chief
Justice Committee
Currently, a five-member committee presided over by
Justice A.A. Benin of the Supreme Court is investigating the EC chair and her
two deputies as prescribed under Article 146 of the 1992 Constitution.
The whole action was triggered by a petition sent to
the presidency by Lawyer Maxwell Opoku-Agyemang who was acting on behalf of
some unnamed staff of the commission who were seeking to trigger impeachment
proceedings against Mrs. Charlotte Osei.
A litany of allegations were leveled against Mrs.
Osei, including spending GH¢3.9 million to partition an office, receipt of a
bulletproof Toyota Land Cruiser from the previous government, spending about
$14 million for district offices when the Public Procurement Authority (PPA)
had authorized her to use only $7.5 million, as well as attending Cabinet
meetings under President John Mahama’s administration, among others.
Counter
Petition
In the ensuing heat, Emmanuel Senyo, a non-EC staff,
filed a counter petition to the president against the two deputy commissioners
- Amadu Sulley and Mrs. Opoku-Amankwa.
DAILY
GUIDE understands that Mr. Senyo relates James Kofi
Afedo, the Communication Consultant working with the EC.
Kofi Afedo, a known member of ‘Movement for
Mahama’- a partisan group - was hired by
Mrs. Charlotte Osei and allegedly paid him thousands of dollars.
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