Asamoah Gyan was on your 2024 manifesto committee – Tanko jabs NPP over EC criticism

GhanaWeb reported on Tuesday, October 13, 2026, that the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Deputy Director of Elections and IT, Rashid Tanko-Computer, has fiercely defended President John Dramani Mahama’s appointment of Emelia Afi Agbenyo as Deputy Chairperson of the Electoral Commission (EC) by throwing a sharp political jab at the New Patriotic Party (NPP), citing the opposition’s reported inclusion of former Black Stars captain Asamoah Gyan on their 2024 manifesto sports committee. You know, it is one thing for political parties to scrutinize the perceived partisan affiliations of presidential appointees to independent constitutional bodies, but it is an entirely different reality when the ruling party’s chief data strategist turns the tables, using the opposition’s own high-profile sporting endorsements to highlight alleged hypocrisy and deflect criticism over the EC appointments.

The National Democratic Congress (NDC), the New Patriotic Party (NPP), the Electoral Commission (EC), the Office of the President, the Parliamentary Select Committee on Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, and the broader national democratic governance, electoral integrity, and political communication frameworks are institutionally mandated to foster transparent and merit-based appointments to state institutions, ensure the strict political neutrality of electoral management bodies, and guarantee that public discourse around constitutional appointments is driven by verifiable professional competence rather than partisan mudslinging. When a ruling party spokesperson explicitly weaponizes the opposition’s past manifesto committee memberships to neutralize attacks on a new EC appointee, it directly reinforces the core principles of political accountability, reciprocal scrutiny, and the foundational need to ensure that the debate over electoral independence remains focused on institutional integrity rather than selective outrage.

Speaking on Joy FM, Tanko-Computer pushed back against claims by NPP Communications Director Dennis Miracles Aboagye, who had questioned Ms. Agbenyo’s political neutrality and cited her alleged links to the NDC. Insisting that the President had appointed highly competent individuals to fill the vacant positions, Tanko challenged the NPP to look inward before casting stones. “Asamoah was a member of their sports committee on this manifesto. Go and check in 2024,” he stated, referencing the former Ghana national football team captain’s reported role in shaping the NPP’s 2024 policy document. Tanko further alluded to Gyan’s infamous missed penalty at the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, using the football legend’s controversial sporting legacy to mock the NPP’s judgment in selecting manifesto contributors, thereby arguing that the opposition party has no moral high ground to question the professional suitability or alleged political affiliations of the President’s new EC deputies.

You know, when such fierce, highly calibrated political counter-attacks are mounted by ruling party strategists to neutralize opposition criticism of sensitive electoral appointments, it highlights the critical importance of ensuring that our national discourse on constitutional bodies remains anchored in objective assessments of professional merit and statutory qualifications, so that the vital work of the Electoral Commission is not unnecessarily politicized by tit-for-tat manifesto controversies and selective historical grievances, doesn’t it? As the nation digests this intense exchange over the new EC leadership and stakeholders reflect on the urgent need to depoliticize the appointment process, the public continues to monitor the situation, recognizing that robust democratic frameworks and cooperative dialogue between the NDC, the NPP, the Electoral Commission, civil society organizations, the media, and the citizenry are vital pillars for ensuring fairness, electoral credibility, and order in Ghana’s democratic landscape.

Starlight-Chronicles feedback-opera-news-app@opera.com