General News of Saturday, 22 July 2017
Source: Graphic.com.gh
2017-07-22
Charlotte Osei, Chairperson of the Electoral Commission
The Chairperson of the Electoral Commission (EC), Mrs Charlotte Osei has provided a detailed response to all points raised with supporting documentation to the petition filed by some workers of the EC asking for her removal.
The petitioners have also petitioned the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO), on the same matters, asking for investigations.
Subsequently, Mrs Osei through her lawyers on July 21, 2017, provided the response in the 17-page document, a copy of which is available to Graphic Online.
She described the allegations made in a 27 point claim as “baseless.”
“As a point of order with regard to the recent unfounded accusations leveled at Mrs. Charlotte Osei in her capacity as Chairperson of the EC Ghana, Mr. Maxwell Opoku-Agyemang is not a staff member of the Commission,” it said.
“Whilst he [Maxwell] claims to act on behalf of ‘Concerned Staff’ of the Commission, he has not made clear who those ‘staff’ indeed are. This is of particular importance as he has previously introduced himself at another forum as counsel for Ms. Georgina Opoku-Amankwaa, the deputy Chairperson Corporate Services of the Commission.”
“In order for this to be considered as a legitimate submission on behalf of the staff, the names and signatures of these concerned staff must be provided in support of the so-called petition submitted.
It continued: “with regard to the baseless allegations, below is a detailed response on all points raised with supporting documentation, which it is noted, Mr. Maxwell Opoku-Agyemang and his fictitious petitioners have failed to provide.”
Below are some of the claims and responses
Claim 1: “Madam Charlotte Osei, the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission on 30th June, 2015 assumed office as Article 71 appointee whiles still holding office as a Board Member of Ghana Re Insurance, a public company contrary to Article 44(4) of the 1992 Constitution. When the issue was raised, the PRO of Ghana Re confirmed that she only resigned on December 5th, 2015. This means that whiles holding office as the Chairperson of the Commission, she was still a Board Member of Ghana Re Insurance.”
Response 1: Ghana Reinsurance is a limited liability company with shares held by the government of Ghana. A non-executive director position is not a “public office” in the context of Article 44(4) which my esteemed counsel should well know.
Claim 2: “Mrs. Charlotte Osei was appointed as Chairperson of Electoral Commission of Ghana while holding office as Chairperson of the National Commission of Civic Education contrary to the 1992 Constitution. In fact, it was announced as her swearing-in ceremony by the former president that he received her resignation from the NCCE on 29th June, 2017 before the swearing in.”
Response 2: The appointment to the office of Chairperson of the Electoral Commission took effect on June 30, 2015. Resignation as Chairperson of the NCCE pre-dated the swearing in on June 30, 2015. The Chairperson therefore cannot be accused of holding two public positions simultaneously. She certainly did not receive two salaries for the month of June 2015.
EC boss debunks allegations levelled against her by unfazed staff by GhanaWeb on Scribd
