The Coalition of Domestic Election Observers (CODEO) has called for reforms to the appointment process for the leadership of the Electoral Commission (EC).
It said the Constitution Review Committee (CRC) recommended an open, competitive and merit-based process involving a reformed Council of State, the Public Services Commission and prior parliamentary approval.
A statement issued by CODEO in Accra noted, however, that the government’s Position Paper rejected the proposed changes to the existing appointment arrangement, while indicating that the President could adopt transparent, merit-based procedures.
Reconsider
It, therefore, urged the government to reconsider its position and “pursue reforms that introduce independent scrutiny, transparent selection criteria and meaningful parliamentary oversight.”
It said such safeguards would help address concerns about actual or perceived partisan influence before appointments were made, rather than after controversies arise.
The statement said the concerns surrounding Ms Emelia Afi Agbenyo’s appointment underscore the urgency of those reforms.
“The independence of the Electoral Commission must be protected not only by constitutional provisions but also by a clear commitment of the political class to an independent and impartial electoral management body.”
EC appointments
It said since the exit of Dr Kwadwo Afari-Gyan as the founding Chair of the EC, CODEO had consistently called for a broader consultative process in the appointment of the members of the EC beyond the dictates of Article 70 (2) of the 1992 Constitution while the country waited for meaningful constitutional reform.
“In 2014 and 2018, CODEO made these calls in the appointments of Charlotte Osei and later Jean Mensah, Dr Bossman Asare and Mr Samuel Tetteh. The appointing Presidents did not heed the calls,” it observed.
The statement said in 2023, together with STAR-Ghana Foundation and Civic Forum Initiative (CFI), CODEO called for the resignation of Dr Peter Appiahene over concerns about his partisan affiliation with the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
It said the appointment of Dr Peter Appiahene rightly generated condemnation from many groups, including the National Democratic Congress, prompting its then Presidential Aspirant, now President John Mahama, to call for urgent reforms.
It said the appointment of another member of the EC with known partisan affiliation also calls into question the role of the Council of State.
“In the unique case of the appointment of members of the Electoral Commission, the Constitution requires the President to appoint on the advice of the Council of State and not in consultation with,” it said.
It said the Council of State’s consistent failure to develop any transparency process for the public to assess how it carries out its constitutional duties signals a breakdown in the current constitutional architecture.
It said CODEO’s concerns about Ms Agbenyo’s appointment were not about her professional qualification or technical competence.
“Rather, it reflects a consistent principle of the Coalition that the independence and credibility of the Electoral Commission must be protected, and its leadership must inspire public confidence in its impartiality, regardless of which political party is in government,” it said.
The statement noted that the failure to mitigate those perceptions of bias by individual members of the Commission had severely affected citizen trust in the Commission, reaching its lowest ratings in 2024, according to the Afrobarometer.
It said the repeated failure to use the Presidential appointing power to reset the politics around the appointment of members to the Commission for the good of the country is extremely disappointing and frustrating.
