Special Adviser on Gender and Social Protection to former Vice-President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, Akosua Manu, has criticised the appointment of Affi Agbenyo as Deputy Chairperson of the Electoral Commission (EC), saying that it contradicts principles previously advanced by the National Democratic Congress (NDC).
She said the NDC had strongly opposed the appointment of individuals it considered politically affiliated to the EC under the previous New Patriotic Party (NPP) government, raising concerns about their ability to remain impartial.
Speaking on JoyNews’ Newsfile programme on Saturday, October 17, Ms Manu said the same standard should apply to the current government following the appointment and swearing-in of two new Deputy Chairpersons.
“Based on the NDC’s own principles, Affi Agbenyo has no business being Deputy EC Chair,” she said.
Ms Manu said that the NDC had previously described the appointment of former EC Chairperson Jean Mensa in strong terms, including as “indecent” and “a gross abuse of discretionary powers”, because of concerns about her perceived political affiliations.
She questioned why the party appeared to have adopted a different position after returning to power.
“If I should take reactions to Madam Jean Mensa’s appointment at the time, these were the adjectives ascribed to her appointment: indecent, a gross abuse of discretionary powers, regrettable, silly, but to name a few,” she said.
Ms Manu also referred to comments made by President John Mahama in May 2024, when he criticised former President Nana Akufo-Addo’s appointments to the Electoral Commission.
According to her, Mahama had raised concerns about politically exposed individuals and people allegedly associated with the NPP’s Tertiary Students Confederacy Network (TESCON) being appointed to the Commission.
She said the President’s earlier position appeared inconsistent with the appointment of Ms Agbenyo.
Ms Manu cited remarks Mr Mahama reportedly made during the swearing-in of the new EC Chairpersons, in which he urged the officials to serve the country without political bias.
“Your duty is to the Republic of Ghana and its people,” the President said, according to the quotation cited by Ms Manu.
She said the President had also urged the new EC officials to uphold fairness and transparency and apply the law without fear or favour towards any political party or government.
Ms Manu questioned what had changed in less than two years to justify the appointment of someone who’s a known NDC activist.
“In less than two years, when he was very clear in his mind that anybody affiliated to our party allegedly should have no business being a deputy chair or a chair at the EC, what has changed?” she asked.
She insisted that the issue was not simply whether the appointee was a party member, but whether her political activities raised legitimate questions about her ability to serve independently.
“The lady in question is not just a member, as they are trying to portray here. She’s actually an activist. There are videos, the platforms she mounted. There is work she did with them,” she said.
Ms Manu rejected suggestions that the NDC could defend the appointment by saying that the previous NPP government had also appointed people accused of having political affiliations.
She said the NDC had presented itself as committed to correcting what it considered improper appointments under the previous administration.
According to her, the party should therefore be judged by the standards it established while in opposition.
“If the principle is that you honestly do believe that anybody affiliated to a political party has no business sharing this high office and that you believe that they’ll be impartial, and you have once described that connection as indecent and a gross abuse of discretionary powers, then the chickens have come home to roost,” she said.
Responding to suggestions that the current government was merely following the precedent set by the NPP, Ms Manu said such an argument would undermine the NDC’s promise to reset public institutions.
“In the reset that they promised, where everything that we did was unconscionable and was wrong, and they, in their reset agenda, were to right the wrongs, is writing the wrong now, doing the same things that you said were improper?” she asked.
“I think it’s dishonest. It’s literally an insult to the intelligence of Ghanaians,” she added.
Ms Manu also questioned the advice and consultations that preceded the appointments, particularly the role played by the Council of State.
She said she had not seen a clear account of the Council’s position on the appointments and called for greater clarity on the process.
“I believe that the Council of State weighs in on such appointments. What was their take on this? I’ve not seen it,” she said.
During the discussion, Ms Manu was asked whether her argument meant she now regretted the appointment of Dr Peter Appiahene, a former EC member whose appointment under the previous NPP administration attracted criticism over alleged political affiliations.
She said she did not regret the appointment of a competent person, but said that the broader issue was the apparent inconsistency in the NDC’s position.
“I do not regret a competent person being put in a position. What I regret is that within two years of seeing that the people who mounted a defence and who criticised a party sympathiser…” she said.
“So the regret is that Ghanaians believed in that principled position, only for them to renege on that. That is what should be in question, not my position on what happened a couple of years ago,” she said.