There is heavy security presence at the headquarters of the Electoral Commission, a day after the Chairperson, Charlotte Osei and her two deputies were removed from office by President Nana Akufo-Addo.
A team of police personnel from the Formed Police Unit (FPU) are currently stationed at the EC offices in Accra.
Charlotte Osei and her two deputies, Amadu Sulley and Georgina Opoku Amankwah were removed from office following a recommendation from a Committee set up by the Chief Justice.
The Chief Justice set up the committee to probe multiple complaints of fraud and malfeasance against the three.
The committee cited misbehavior and incompetence as reasons for the dismissal, pursuant to Article 146(4) of the Constitution.
The Committee concluded that Charlotte Osei blatantly breached procurement laws in the award of several contracts in her three-year period at the helm of affairs, prior to the 2016 elections.
Excerpts of the report released by the government indicate that the committee investigated six separate allegations of various procurement breaches, for which a prima facie case was established against Madam Charlotte Osei.
A statement by a Minister for Information, Mustapha Abdul-Hamid on Thursday, 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.
NDC to stage demo over Charlotte Osei removal
The National Democratic Congress (NDC), the party which appointed Charlotte as the Chairperson of the EC, said it will stage a demonstration against the move.
“[Today] the anger of the people will be shown on the streets,” the NDC National Organiser, Kofi Adams, told the press Thursday night.
“We must all rise and speak [and say] that enough is enough. They have done enough destruction. We will not allow them to continue with this destruction,” Kofi Adams said.
Charlotte’s removal not politically motivated
But the Akufo-Addo government has insisted that the removal of the EC Chair was not politically motivated.
The Director of Communications at the presidency, Eugene Arhin said the President acted strictly according to the recommendations of the committee set up by the Chief Justice.
He said the law mandates President to act on the commission’s recommendations.
“Those critics will be completely off the mark. When this matter first broke our, we heard the two deputies were virtually against the chairperson herself. You heard the allegations they made. These persons who petitioned the president against Charlotte Osei were persons who worked at the Commission.”
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