The New Patriotic Party(NPP) 2016 presidential candidate, Nana Akufo Addo has added his voice to calls for the President to consult widely before the appointing a new Chairman of the Electoral Commission.
The current EC Chairman, Dr. Kwadwo Afari Gyan, is presently on leave ahead of his retirement in June 2015.
Under the 1992 Constitution, the President has the power to appoint a successor on the advice of the Council of State.
[contextly_sidebar id=”Hk5s4psrF08RDP4cD0mOwHnzttYz5dJo”]Addressing students at University of Cape Coast(UCC), Nana Akufu-Addo stated that the appointment of the new Electoral Commission boss requires vigorous consultation.
“In many many other jurisdictions across the world, whoever successfully emerges as the Head of the Electoral Commission is put through a rigorous selection procedure which includes wide stakeholder consultation, vetted by a committee often in public and finally approval by a special majority…I will respectively urge the President to abide by the constitution and allow the council of state to do its work openly and transparently,” he stated.
New EC appointment must be transparent
This is not the first time an appeal has been made to the President for a broader consultation in the appointment of a new EC Boss.
Several people including , the Minority Spokesperson on Legal and Constitutional Affairs, Joe Osei Owusu have made similar calls.
In backing calls for greater transparency in naming a new EC boss, Joe Osei Owusu who is also the Member of Parliament for Bekwai earlier said both the President and the Council of State will serve Ghana’s democracy very well if they open the process to carry along all stakeholders.
He told Citi News that “the council of state’s advice should go to the president after widespread consultation of stakeholders.”
While some have called on the President to make the process for the appointment transparent, others have also asked the President to appoint a competent EC Boss.
The Ghana Bar Association (GBA) early on admonished Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) and political parties to unite and pressurize the President to begin the appointment process of a new chairman for the Electoral Commission (EC).
Names for EC job
Some of the names that have emerged as potential successors to Dr Afari Gyan are the Chairman of the Presidential Commission of Inquiry that investigated the 2014 World Cup scandal, Justice Senyo Dzamefe, who is also a Court of Appeal judge, the Executive Director of the Institute of Democratic Governance (IDEG), Dr Emmanuel Akwetey and the Deputy Chairman in charge of Operations at the EC, Mr Amadu Sulley.
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By: Marian Efe Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @EfeAnsah