Appoint new EC boss – GBA tells Mahama

The Ghana Bar Association (GBA) is calling on President John Mahama to appoint a new chairman for the Electoral Commission ahead of the 2016 elections.

According to the umbrella body of lawyers, appointing a new head of the election regulatory body will “boost the image and credibility of the Commission before the 2016 elections.”

The GBA said at a press conference in Accra, Tuesday, that it believes “What all Ghanaians will be looking for from the new Electoral Commissioner is one who is perceived as capable and just; a person of integrity and one who will not pander to political pressures from any quarters whatsoever.”

The incumbent chairman of the EC, Dr Kwadwo Afari Gyan, has been in office since 1992 and has presided over five national elections.

Ghana’s last presidential and parliamentary elections ended at the highest court of the land – the Supreme Court – after the New Patriotic Party challenged the presidential results.

A nine-member panel in August 2013, validated the EC’s declaration of President Mahama as the legitimate winner of the 2012 election.