General News of Thursday, 28 May 2020
Source: www.ghanaweb.live
2020-05-28Flashback: EC Boss destroying legacy of her predecessors - Political Scientist
Jean Mensa, Charlotte Osei and Dr Kojo Afari Gyan
While a cross-section of Ghanaians led by the main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) fight the Electoral Commission of Ghana (EC) on its decision to compile a new voter register for the upcoming December general elections, several questions have been raised about the posture and the kind of legacy being built by the
Read full articlecurrent commissioner of the EC, Jean Mensa.
In 2019, a political scientist at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Dr Amoako Boateng, observed that Jean Mensa by her posture and utterances was eroding the legacy of a good foundation built by her predecessors.
His comments came after it was reported that the EC boss had attacked the Coalition of Domestic Election Observers (CODEO) about its report on the violence that characterised the by-election conducted in the Ayawaso West Wuogon Constituency on January 31, 2019.
Read the full story as first published by www.mynewsgh.com below
Political Scientist, Dr. Amakye Boateng has attacked the posture and conduct of the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission, Madam Jean Mensa accusing her of destroying the solid foundation built by her immediate two predecessors.
According to him, the two former EC bosses; Madam Charlotte Osei and Dr. Kwadwo Afari-Gyan did a lot to put Ghana’s elections on a right path unlike the current EC chairperson, Madam Jean Mensa.
“Dr. Afari Gyan laid the foundation so well [but] her [Jean Mensa] posture is not helpful”, Dr. Amakye Boateng observed when he spoke on a local radio station in an interview monitored by MyNewsGh.com.
“Some of her pronouncements are not good….why did the EC Boss attack CODEO in respect of CODEO’s report about Ayawaso West Wuogon by-election violence?”, the political scientist quizzed in anger.
“If I am NDC, I will have grounds to suspect her neutrality”, Dr. Amakye Boateng revealed.
Former President, John Dramani Mahama has cautioned the Jean Mensa led Electoral Commission (EC) not to turn the electoral body into a secret society challenging them to be transparent in the management of activities leading up to the 2020 elections.
Madam Jean Mensa and her Deputies in recent times have come under heavy criticisms from particularly the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) over some disagreements relating to the conduct of the upcoming limited voter registration exercise.
The NDC in a statement issued on May 21, 2019 and signed by its National Communication Officer Sammy Gyemfi justified an earlier assertion by its flagbearer that the Electoral Commission cannot be neutral in conducting the 2020 elections.
