The Chairperson of Ghana’s Electoral Commission (EC), Mrs Jean Mensa, must know that she is standing on the fair and just shoulders of her predecessors Mrs Charlotte Osei and Dr Kwadwo Afari Gyan and, thus, must do her job without fear or favour, a former Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection, Nana Oye Lithur, has said.
“She does not have any choice [but to deliver free and fair elections]”, Oye Lithur said on Class FM on Thursday, 30 May 2019, stressing: “The Electoral Commission Chairperson Mrs Jean Mensa does not have any choice. She is a Ghanaian and she has sworn an oath, she’s supposed to uphold the law, the Constitution of Ghana and the electoral laws. She has to apply those laws without fear or favour”.
The human rights lawyer, who accused Mrs Mensa of bias against the main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) in carrying out her duties as EC Chairperson, said: “She has to ensure that she delivers free, fair elections for the people and the Republic of Ghana”, adding: “She is standing on the shoulders of Mrs Charlotte Osei, and Dr Afari Gyan, who have done that, so, it behoves her [to do same]. Her integrity is at stake, her values are at stake, and we’re expecting her to deliver free and fair elections because Ghana is peaceful, and we do not want to be plunged into war, or we don’t want instability and war, so, she doesn’t have a choice. If she applies the law, nobody has a problem with her”.
Asked by the host if the NDC is not merely repeating exactly what the New Patriotic Party (NPP), then in opposition, did to the now-impeached Chairperson Mrs Charlotte Osei, Nana Oye Lithur said: “I do not believe that it is the same thing”, explaining that: “There are clear biases that Jean Mensa has demonstrated”.
Adducing evidence to back her charge of bias against Mrs Mensa, Nana Oye Lithur, who wants to run for the Adentan parliamentary seat on the NDC’s ticket, said: “If you heard the recording, the altercation between her and General Mosquito, Johnson Asiedu Nketia, it’s very clear that there were issues, together with her deputy, I think is he Dr Bossman? They have made audible statements; they have written statements and they have said stuff that call their neutrality as umpires as far as our electoral process is concerned, into question and I believe that’s why the NDC, as a party, is questioning, is raising questions [about their neutrality]”.
Oye Lithur continued: “What I would personally say, I know Jean Mensa personally, very personally. What I would say is that the stability, the progress and peace of Ghana rest on her head as Electoral Commission Chairperson. And she owes that onerous responsibility to be a transparent umpire, to be an umpire and referee with integrity, to be an umpire that ensures that our electoral processes are followed through to the letter…
“So, it is not just words that are flying in the air. There’s concrete evidence and there are instances where Jean Mensa has not conducted herself in a way that we would say that she is an umpire and that she would dispense and implement our electoral laws without fear or favour, and these are the warning signals that the NDC is raising”.
Oye Lithur’s concerns dovetail into similar ones expressed by former President John Mahama, who is the flag bearer of the NDC for the 2020 general elections.
Mr Mahama said a few weeks ago that the posturing of Mrs Mensa does not indicate that she will be neutral in the 2020 polls.
According to him, Mrs Mensa has acted in ways that suggest that representatives of the political parties are a disturbance to the elections management body, a situation Mr Mahama said was unfortunate.
“They need to prove us wrong. We have our doubts that they can be neutral and fair … The current posture and the way they are conducting things makes us doubt that they will be neutral and fair in 2020,” Mr Mahama told Accra-based Citi FM on Monday, 20 May 2019.
He added: “The EC is not a secret society. It is not somebody’s private closet that needs to be shut, and, [we], not know what is going on there… They should open all the process.
“When the EC starts behaving like the representatives of political parties are a nuisance … then this affects the trust and confidence the people have in the EC – a neutral arbiter.”
Touching on the chair of the Commission, Mr Mahama said: “Her posture doesn’t give confidence that she is going to be neutral in this matter,” he stated.
Source: Class FM
Disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. |
agyimifour party ndc all that they are doing is implementing ofosu ampofo agenda thanks be to God their evil agenda was expose and the originator of the agenda is before court to see his smoothness level
Ahhhhhhh Oye? You couldn't even save your marriage!
What is this confused divorced obolo woman talking about? These ndc double salary thi.eves are annoying. They are all pursuing Ofosu Ampofo wicked agenda. Why are the double salary thi.eves still waling free and talking non.sense?
Nana Oye, my lost love, I use to admire you on news file and honestly pursued the law profession as you greatly inspired me. But now, I feel lost and abandoned- where is my role model? Where did my love go? Love is indeed fleeting and you have let me down.
The babies with sharp teeth are released to do what they best do. Spewing out lies, absurdity and unproved allegations about their opponents. My advice and warning to discerning Ghanaians is not to expect much from them, for, they can not otherwise. That is sadly the NDC's understanding of opposition politicking. And this clearly disqualify it to be an alternative Government in opposition with best possible policies, concepts and ideas to solve problems. I doubt if Sammy Gyamfi, Sam George and their cohort have the competence, let alone, expect them argue constructively to present alternative policies and Government programs worthy of solving any problem in Ghana. I become very sad whhen I hear them speak with such insolence, because they seem to underrate the intelligence of Ghanaians. The problem is not the good EC Mrs. Jean Mensa but NDC as a political Party without genuine principles and ideology.
The posture of the NDC party, their leadership and their members with regards to Jean Mensah and Charlotte Osei clearly show that Charlotte Osei was planted to do the NDC bidding but it backfired. What a shame. John Mahama doesn't have Ghana at heart a bit. I just hope Ghanaians will be wiser come 2020.
hahahahaha....masree saaaaaaa!! I just wanna see Oye's pic.....lol...can she run if there is even a fire outbreak in her house not to talk about when there is an outbreak of war.....Lord have mercy on these guys.... Eeeiii ... see how politics can change the mindset of people....book nkoaa...she didn't believe in any human rights advocacy previously......it was to make ends meet and now that she has tasted real cheap money in politics, it's blind and dirty politics all the way.....go and face the special prosecutor and stop the ***barred word*** noise making madam. Ghana is bigger than your selfish ambition, your family, your NDC and those who support your parochial agenda of war... Because your children and immediate family are alleged to be residing outside Ghana through dubiously acquired wealth, you are calling for war....for who to go and fight and die...nananiama!!
Miss Afunumpoku,if war happen in Ghana,you have dubiously acquired a property worth $600,000 in South Africa so you will run to a save haven.You have already lost respect so shut your smelly mouth.
***barred word*** even chollette osei you like her and were happy with her dubious actions she doing at the ec
Honestly, I really respected Oye Lithur, the Human Rights advocate. Oye Lithur the politician is insufferable!!!