EC boss to face CJ as President forwards petition to head of Apex Court
The President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has referred a petition by ‘Some Concerned Staff’ of the Electoral Commission (EC) for the removal of the Chairperson of the commission, Mrs Charlotte Osei, to the Chief Justice, Ms Justice Sophia Akuffo, for a resolution.
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A statement signed by the Communications Director at the Presidency, Mr Eugene Arhin, and issued in Accra on Wednesday said while the President was out of the country, the Office of the President received a petition, initially undated and unsigned, against the Chairperson of the EC.
“Subsequently, counsel, Maxwell Opoku-Agyemang, Esq., by a letter dated 20th July, 2017, wrote to the Office of the President, setting out the names of the petitioners and the date of the petition,” it said.
It said the President had referred the petition, “purporting to invoke Article 146(3) of the Constitution in respect of the office of the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission, Mrs Charlotte Osei, to the Chief Justice, Justice Sophia Akuffo”.
Constitutional provision on removal of EC boss
Article 44 (2)(3) of the 1992 Constitution states that the Chairperson of the EC shall have the same terms and conditions of service as a Justice of the Court of Appeal.
Per that, the Chairperson of EC cannot be removed from office except for “stated misbehaviour or incompetence or on grounds of inability to perform the functions of his/her office arising from infirmity of body or mind”.
Article 151(1) also states: “A person holding a judicial office may be removed from office by the Chief Justice on the grounds only of stated misbehaviour, incompetence or inability to perform his/her functions arising from infirmity of body or mind and upon a resolution supported by the votes of not less than two-thirds of all members of the Judicial Council.”
President receives petition
The Office of the President last Monday confirmed receiving a petition from a group calling itself the ‘Concerned Workers of the Electoral Commission (EC)’ asking the President and the Chief Justice to begin impeachment processes against the Chairperson of the EC, Mrs Osei.
The group accused the EC boss of misconduct, citing breaches of some provisions of the 1992 Constitution, as well as the Public Procurement Act, Act 663, in a six-page petition signed by its counsel, Mr Opoku-Agyemang, and dated Thursday, July 13, 2017.
Mr Arhin, who confirmed the receipt of the petition to the Daily Graphic, did not comment on it but stressed that any further action in that regard rested with the President.
Mrs Osei had, in her response to the allegations made against her by those ‘concerned staff’ of the EC, accused her two deputies — Mrs Georgina Opoku-Amankwah and Mr Amadu Sulley — of various wrongdoings and described them as “grossly insubordinate and rude”.
“I will react”
Meanwhile, the Deputy Chairperson (Corporate Services) of the EC, Mrs Opoku-Amankwah, had stated that she would, at the appropriate time, respond to the allegations levelled against her by the EC Chairperson.
But, in a terse statement to the Daily Graphic last Monday, Mrs Opoku-Amankwah said, “We’ve just come out of a meeting and I can’t give you any details now. At the appropriate time, I will respond to those allegations.”
Background
Mr Opoku-Agyemang, counsel for unnamed concerned staff of the EC, on July 13, 2017 forwarded a petition to the President asking for the initiation of processes for the removal of Mrs Osei under Article 146 (3) of the 1992 Constitution.
Meanwhile, Mrs Osei has also instituted a suit against Mr Opoku-Agyemang for defamation.