Nana Addo Was Right to Dismiss EC Boss – Mpiani

Former Chief of Staff in the Kufuor Administration, Kwadwo Mpiani has said that the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo “acted properly” in sacking the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission, Mrs Charlotte Osei and her two deputies: Amadu Sulley and Georgina Opoku Amankwah.

“That’s what the law is, isn’t it? So, the president acted properly. It’s never happened before but that doesn’t mean it can’t happen”, Mr Mpiani told Raymond Acquah on Upfront, recently.

President Akufo-Addo, on Thursday, June 28 removed the three EC Commissioners based upon the recommendation of a five-member committee set up by Chief Justice Sophia Akuffo, to investigate separate complaints brought against the three by some Ghanaian citizens.

When he spoke on the matter for the first time in faraway Mauritania where he was attending the AU Summit, President Akufo-Addo explained to the Ghanaian community there that: “In the last six months, the committee has been investigating allegations of corruption against Charlotte Osei and her deputies. The committee completed its findings last week and concluded that Charlotte Osei and her two deputies erred. Based on Article 146 (9), the committee recommended that Charlotte Osei and her deputies should be removed from office”, adding that: “I could not oppose the committee’s recommendation because I have no such powers”.

The president stressed: “The law requires that I obey the recommendation by the committee, and that necessitated the dismissal of Charlotte Osei and her deputies”, noting that: “This is our constitution”.

“We all need to understand that Charlotte Osei and her deputies were not dismissed out of hatred or malice”, the president said, adding: “Those who brought the petition were employees of the Electoral Commission, so, I plead with Ghanaians to work together to find persons who will be transparent to work as electoral commissioners”.