Being an integral part of every human, it was inevitable that she would have flaws; that notwithstanding, her immense contribution to Ghana’s peace and sanity in elections and politics cannot under any circumstance be underplayed, the words of Former General Secretary of the Christian Council of Ghana, Rev Dr. Kwabena Opuni-Frimpong while commenting on the recent dismissal of Former Electoral Commission Chair, Charlotte Osei.

Mr. Opuni, making submissions on the ’21 Minutes with KKB’ show, stressed Mrs. Osei’s immense role in ensuring a free and fair electoral process during the 2016 polls, regardless of the fact that she was appointed by a sitting President at the time.

“I would want this country to express gratitude to Mrs. Charlotte Osei. I was an insider in the 2016 elections because of my role then as General Secretary and for the first time, a sitting president handed over to Akufo-Addo in opposition. It wasn’t a simple thing so whoever mobilized and led us to ensure the peace, harmony before and after has made a significant contribution”
“She might have mistakes here and there but this country must express gratitude to Mrs. Charlotte Osei despite one or two flaws here and there, but that she made significant contribution in spite of everything, I would want to say thank you to her”, he said.

Touching on her personality in relation to the accusations that were levelled against her, Mr. Opuni said, “There are things that we would see outwardly and things you would see inwardly, we were working together even before her appointment as EC chair, and she met with us the Christian council, there were challenges with compiling the new voters register, whether to compile a new one or not, the logo became an issue, there were real issues but that is the nature of the job”.

“Having these two political parties; NPP and NDC managing them, it is not easy”, he added.



Though he touted newly elected EC Chair, Jean Mensah for her skills in coordination at the IEA, he was insistent that she be careful in her operations with her new position in order to avoid being sabotaged.

“I’ve worked with Jean, I served on the advisory Board, winner-takes-all, presidential debate committee so I’ve worked closely with her and at IEA, she’s been able to bring all of us, Christians, Muslims, security agencies, women groups etc. and constantly bringing us together; and that has been excellent”, he acknowledged.

“I would want to congratulate her, she’s been wonderful at IEA but moving forward to EC, I would like to suggest humbly that NPP and NDC are all capable of rigging elections in Ghana and so in working with them, she must keep them in mind and so she must not have favorites sons and daughters in any political party especially in NPP and NDC”, he was quick to add.



Background

President Akufo-Addo removed the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission, Charlotte Osei and her two deputies, Amadu Sulley and Georgina Opoku Amankwaa from office in June this year.

This was after a committee set up by the Chief Justice, Justice Sophia Akuffo, pursuant to Article 146(4) of the Constitution, to investigate separate complaints brought against the three persons by Ghanaian citizens, recommended their removal from office.

The Committee recommended their removal on the basis of stated misbehavior and incompetence, pursuant to Article 146 (1) of the Constitution.



A statement by a Minister for Information, Mustapha Abdul-Hamid to that effect said, the President had directed the three persons to hand over their respective schedules to the Director of Human Resources at the Commission, while thanking them for their service to the country.

“The provisions of Article 146 (9) of the Constitution require the President of the Republic to act in accordance with the recommendations of the Committee.