I Careless About Charlotte Osei's Impeachment - Namoale

A former NDC Member of Parliament (MP) for La Dadekotopon constituency, Nii Amasah Namoale says attempts to remove the Electoral Commission (EC) Chairperson, Madam Charlotte Osei from office will not affect him in any way.

Namoale who is considering to contest the La Dadekotopon seat again in 2020 was emphatic that “The votes I will get from my people in my constituency is more important to me than Charlotte Osei’s impeachment process.

“Charlotte cannot change my votes if the people vote massively for me. Her impeachment will not affect my coat and shirt,” he said on NEAT FM’s morning show ‘Ghana Montie’.

Tension has been mounting at the Commission after some workers sent a petition to the president accusing the Electoral Commissioner of some alleged impeachable offences.

The concerned staff claimed Madam Charlotte Osei fraudulently cancelled a contract awarded to Superlock Technologies Limited (STL), a company contracted to supply and manage Biometric Voter Registration machines (BVRs) and Biometric Voter Devices (BVDs).

They also alleged she single-handedly renegotiated the same contract with the vendor without the involvement of key members of the Commission, leading to the award of $21,999,592 contract.

Her action contradicted the Public Procurement Act (PPA), they said.

Madam Charlotte Osei has maintained the claims are “unfounded accusations", blaming her two deputies, Mrs Georgina Opoku-Amankwaah and Amadu Sulley for the petition.

But her denial did not stop the presidency from forwarding a copy of the petition to the Chief Justice as required by law and for possible impeachment proceedings to begin if a prima facie case is established.

On receiving the petition, the Chief Justice wrote to the EC Chair to respond to the allegations contained in the petition, which she did after a prima facie case was established against her.

According to her, after her official response to the allegations, she has neither heard from the Chief Justice nor officially been communicated to, only to receive a summon to appear before a committee that is likely to trigger her impeachment.