CDD-Ghana Fellow Dr John Osae-Kwapong says the latest Electoral Commission appointment should face an ‘Akufo-Addo test’ of integrity, fairness, professionalism, and independent judgment.
Speaking on Joy News’ PM Express on Tuesday, he proposed assessing the appointee against standards former President Nana Akufo-Addo outlined when swearing in commissioners in 2023.
“So that’s the first thing for me is subjecting the appointment to the Akufo-Addo test to say if the person can measure up to these things, fair enough.”
Dr Osae-Kwapong said Akufo-Addo’s remarks offered useful guidance on the qualities expected of an electoral commissioner.
“And he talked about things like, if the person can serve with integrity, the person can serve with fairness, if the person can be professional, and if the person can show independence of mind and judgment.”
His comments follow President John Mahama’s swearing-in of Dr Joseph Kwaku Asamoah and Emelia Afi Agbenyo as EC deputy chairpersons on Monday, October 12.
He charged them with upholding electoral integrity and strengthening public confidence.
The appointments followed Dr Bossman Eric Asare’s resignation and Samuel Tettey’s retirement.
Dr Osae-Kwapong also questioned the distinction the public draws between openly partisan appointees and those whose political sympathies remain private.
“The second point for me then becomes this idea of the open partisan being appointed to an independent constitutional body versus the person who could be just as partisan but is more private about his or her partisanship.”
He said public knowledge of an appointee’s political affiliation seemed to fuel concerns about their suitability.
“It appears that we have a certain level of discomfort in knowing that somebody is openly partisan and being sent to an independent constitutional body.”
Beyond those perceptions, he questioned whether the Commission’s internal safeguards could prevent an individual from advancing a party’s interests.
“Are there internal safeguards? Are we so worried that we are thinking one person who is publicly partisan can actually do the bidding of a political party in the midst of six other peers?”
For him, the ability of fellow commissioners to restrain partisan conduct was a key consideration. He said his concern would be reduced if the other commissioners could check an individual’s attempts to act on political bias.