What is wrong with Akufo-Addo appointing NPP members as Electoral Commissioners – Obiri Boahen

Nana Obiri Boahen, a former deputy general-secretary of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), has refuted assertions that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has done wrong by appointing card-bearing members of the party as commissioners of the Electoral Commission of Ghana.

According to him, Akufo-Addo has done no wrong because nowhere in the 1992 Constitution of Ghana is it stated that the president cannot appoint members of his political party as members of the EC.

Speaking in an interview on Neat FM, on Wednesday, March 22, 2023, which was monitored by GhanaWeb, Lawyer Obiri Boahen added that the constitution mandates the president to fill positions in his government with people who are competent irrespective of their political affiliations.

“The president is acting according to what the constitution says. NDC members are saying that the new commissioners have (NPP) party cards. Even if it is the truth, go through the constitution, is there a disqualification based on party cards?

“What is wrong with them being card-bearing members of the NPP? The constitution only gives the president the power to appoint, it says nothing about disqualification of people affiliated to certain political parties,” he said in Twi.

Obiri Boahen urged the public not to take the objection being raised by the members of the NDC on the newly appointed EC members seriously because the NDC as a party, has decided to paint any action taken by the Akufo-Addo government black.

He added that the NDC should rather focus on ensuring that they will be able to collate their election results rather than crying foul always on issues surrounding the EC.

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, on Monday, March 20, 2023, swore-in three new members of the Electoral Commission of Ghana (EC) at the Jubilee House.

The three new members of the EC, Dr. Peter Appiahene, Hajia Salima Ahmed Tijani, and Reverend Akua Ofori Boateng are expected to serve in their new roles till the end of the 2024 elections and are replacements for members of the commission who recently retired.

The appointments have, however, seen some criticisms by some factions in the public with members of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) accusing President Akufo-Addo of packing the commission with members of the New Patriotic Party (NPP).