Former Chief of Staff, Kojo Mpiani has charged President John Dramani Mahama to ensure that the next Chairman of the Electoral Commission (EC) is strong, fair-minded and above all neutral.
[contextly_sidebar id=”YlY8nZWoFnUdcXvYieKIp0zrM7JiFNls”]Dr. Afari Gyan retires in June after 20 years of service to the nation but processes for his replacement has attracted much attention and scrutiny.
In an interview with Citi News, the former chief of staff believes the integrity of the entire electioneering process rest heavily on the shoulders of the Chairman of the Electoral Commission, hence his call.
He insisted that one of the qualities that the new EC boss must possess is “neutrality.”
“We are all human beings, members of the electoral commission are all registered voters, so they may have their preferences when it comes to voting. The current chairman didn’t want to vote so he never voted but he could have voted if he wanted to,” he said.
Kojo Mpiani added that “we need somebody who will be so fair minded that would say even though if I look at the candidates, my preference will be candidate A but because I prefer a candidate doesn’t mean that I should skew things to make candidate A to win the election. You may get people who will say I may vote for candidate A but I want to make sure that the right thing is done.”
The appointment of a new EC chair has stirred a lot of controversy in the country.
Whereas some are insisting that the President should open up the process to wider consultation, others believe he must stick to the Constitution.
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By: Godwin Akweiteh Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana