President Akufo-Addo has sworn in three new members of the Electoral Commission (EC).
The three new persons are Dr. Peter Appiahene, Salima Ahmed Tijani, and Rev Akua Ofori Boateng. The new chairpersons of the EC were inducted into office on Monday, March 20, at the Jubilee House.
Swearing them in, President Akufo-Addo admonished the new chairpersons to uphold diligence in executing their mandate. He added that they should not be intimidated by the public scrutiny and criticisms they will experience in the discharge of their duties.
He said the public scrutiny,” however, should not scare you and, indeed, let no one try to cow you into submission. On the contrary, let this expectation of the Ghanaian people spur you onto great heights, and above all the works of the will of the Ghanaian people is upheld.”
Speaking on behalf of the new chairpersons, Dr. Appiahene promised that they are ready to deliver and contribute to strengthening Ghana’s multi-party democracy.
“We are, therefore, aware of the massive responsibilities and tasks that come with it. We want to state that we are poised and more prepared to deliver and contribute to the development of our democracy, especially in this digital era,” he said.
Following the appointments, the NDC has chastised the President for such a move.
Reacting to the news, the National Communications Officer of the NDC, Sammy Gyamfi described the appointment as unacceptable adding that the Electoral Commission is gradually becoming an annex of the NPP.
“We all know that the Electoral Commission is an independent constitutional body; it is supposed to be neutral and so when you have the President appointing known NPP apparatchiks, and activists into the highest positions in the Commission, that amounts to the bastardization of a once-revered state institution. The Electoral Commission now has become an annex or a wing of the ruling NPP,” he said on Accra-based Joy FM on Tuesday.
In addition, the Member of Parliament for the Buem constituency and the former National Organizer of the NDC, Kofi Adams has also slammed president Nana Akufo-Addo for adding the three new members to the Electoral Commission’s Board.
According to Kofi Addams, President Akufo-Addo will go down in history as the worst president to denigrate the office of the Electoral Commission.
“All the other former presidents have worked to ensure the sanctity of the Electoral Commission, but that is far from President Akufo-Addo. Never has the Electoral Commission been tainted through a partisan lens than has happened in this current administration. Right from the processes leading to the removal of Charlotte Osei and her colleagues through to the appointment of Jean Mensa and others and the additions made today,” the MP for Buem noted.
