The lawyer representing some aggrieved staff of the Electoral Commission (EC) who petitioned President Akufo-Addo for the removal of the Chairperson of the commission, Charlotte Osei, from office on grounds of gross abuse of office and corruption, has asked President Akufo-Addo to suspend the EC boss.
The suspension, which is in the spirit of Article 146 (10) (b) of the 1992 Constitution, according to Lawyer Maxwell Opoku-Agyemang, is to pave way for the final determination of the matter by the Committee established by Chief Justice Sophia Akuffo to probe the allegations leveled against the three top EC officials without any undue interference from Mrs Osei.
Mrs. Osei and her two deputies – Georgina Opoku-Amankwa (in-charge of Corporate Service) and Amadu Sully (in-charge of Operations) – are being probed over allegations leveled against them.
The probe is being undertaken following the activation of Article 146 of the 1992 Constitution after petitions and counter petitions against the three top officials of the electoral body had been sent to the president.
President Akufo-Addo earlier this year referred the matter to the CJ for consideration, and a prima facie case against the EC officials was reportedly established by the Chief Justice in a preliminary investigation, paving way for the formation of a five-member committee, chaired by a Supreme Court judge.
The committee has already had a meeting with the parties in the case.
The preliminary investigations into the allegations started in August when the Chief Justice wrote officially to the commissioners to file their official responses to the allegation leveled against them in the respective petitions.
Mrs. Osei, who is currently enjoying support from the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), wrote to the president, appealing to him for copies of the petitions against her – which she claimed she had not been served with copies – but she was directed to go to the CJ.
According to Communications Director at the Presidency, Eugene Arhin, the president handed over all documents relating to the matter to the Chief Justice for consideration.
But Lawyer Opoku-Agyemang said that “In a related matter involving the investigation of Mrs Georgina Opoku-Amankwa, one of the two deputy chairpersons of the Electoral Commission by the Economic and Organized Crime Office (EOCO), the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission wrote to her (Mrs. Opoku-Amankwa) to proceed on leave to pave the way for unfettered investigations.
“Since then, Mrs. Opoku-Amankwa remains on leave and appears before the CJ committee together with Amadu Sulley, another deputy commissioner of the EC; and Mrs. Osei who remains at post as the case is being heard, leaving many to wonder whether the same reasons for which she asked Mrs. Opoku-Amankwa to proceed on leave are not likely to happen in her case.
“I communicate as lawyer for the petitioners in the petition for the removal from office of Mrs. Charlotte Osei, Chairperson of the Electoral Commission, dated 13th July, 2017, lodged with your office and subsequently referred to the Chief Justice, Ms Sophia Akuffo, CJ, for the determination of a prima facie case,” the lawyer said in a letter to the president dated 13th December, 2017.
“As your Excellency may have been informed, the Chief Justice has established a prima facie case with respect to some of the grounds submitted by the petitioners and has in accordance with Article 146 (4) established a Committee to investigate the allegations contained in the petition.
“The petitioners, in this matter, are workers of the Electoral Commission over whom the chairperson of the Electoral Commission has direct supervision and control and therefore the likelihood that they may be victimized in their work at the Electoral Commission is still extant especially when they also attend upon the Committee established by the Chief Justice above mentioned, and therefore are known to the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission,” the lawyer argued.
He further posited, “In the foregoing, and in the spirit of Article 146 (10) (b), I humbly call upon your office to initiate the process to suspend Mrs Charlotte Osei as Chairperson of the Electoral Commission pending the final determination of the matter by the Committee, as petitioners believe that her suspension would go a long way to allow them to work their case without fear of intimidation and victimization by the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission or her hirelings at the Electoral Commission.
According to him, “It is also my fervent belief that as the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission, her continuous presence in the said office is likely to compromise the outcome of the matter as she would have to be consulted when for instance individuals at the Electoral Commission are subpoenaed to testify against her or documents are requested for the purposes of the enquiry by the Committee.”
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