Jean Mensa is a dictator; running EC with her own mind – Ayariga

The Founder of the All Peoples Congress (APC), Dr. Hassan Ayariga, has questioned the managerial style of the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission (EC), Jean Mensa, describing her as a dictator for allegedly refusing to accommodate the views of opposing political parties at Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) meetings.

“If you are in an IPAC meeting and you are not listening to the people who constitute the IPAC meeting, then definitely one day you will come to IPAC and there won’t be anybody to talk to. The reason why we have IPAC meeting is because of political parties. So, if you are not listening to the political parties and you want to cultivate a forum that cannot be discussed; that cannot be debated on, then it is a big problem because politics is about jaw-jaw – listening to each other because all about IPAC is Inter-Party Advisory Committee. So, if you don’t understand IPAC and you think that you are the EC boss and it is your prerogative to only form and make decisions without listening to them, I’m afraid, we have a big problem”, he noted.

He added “Certain reforms that have come we need to discuss them thoroughly. We need to agree to disagree. That is the beauty of democracy. But when you are forcing laws on people, then it is not a democracy. It is a military regime. She is having a serious problem in terms of decision making. When you have to make decisions, it is not about the EC itself, you have to collaborate with the political parties and that is the most important aspect that we need”.

Dr. Ayariga made this observation when he was interacting with Accra-based station, Okay FM, Tuesday, May 21, 2019. He was reacting to happenings at IPAC meetings where some reforms introduced by the EC are currently being considered by the political parties.

The APC Founder who is worried about the posture of the EC boss says he finds it even more irritating when at one of the IPAC meetings, Jean Mensa brought in some policemen to give her protection while the meeting was ongoing wondering if same has ever been done by the sitting President of the land.

“You have an IPAC meeting then you send policemen to be guiding you. We have never seen that. Even Charlotte Osei was not the best but she never did that. We don’t expect her to bring policemen to intimidate political parties’ members. Have you seen the President of the Republic of Ghana in a meeting and there is a policeman standing behind him? Never. But it happened in IPAC – that is not the best”, he said.

He said the posture of the EC boss needs much to be desired, stressing that in a democratic environment, decisions are not enforced on the people.

He urged Jean Mensa to take a sober reflection on things that she has done and change for the better.

“People were not happy with Charlotte. Now Charlotte is gone and you (Jean Mensa) are in. Show another level; make a difference; make decisions that people will say women in power are better than men in power. Give people the opportunity to talk to you and smile”, he emphasized.