Anti-graft campaigner, Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII), the local chapter of Transparency International, has asked the government to conduct thorough investigations into allegations of financial malfeasance at the Electoral Commission (EC), to salvage the integrity of the electoral body.
The GII said the impasse between the Chairperson of the EC, Mrs. Charlotte Osei, and two deputy chairpersons, Alhaji Amadu Sulley, and Madam Georgina Opoku Amankwa, could dent the image of EC, and urged other state agencies to take swift action to ensure the right things were done.
Some workers of the EC have petitioned President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to initiate impeachment process against Mrs. Osei for stated misconduct.
Mrs Osei in a response to the five-page document signed on behalf of the petitioners, by Mr. Alex Opoku-Agyemang, a law lecturer at the University of Ghana, she accused the two deputies of approving contracts without recourse to the Commission and also engaging in illegal vote transfers.
But, the GII in a statement issued in Accra yesterday by Linda Ofori-Kwafo, Executive Director, GII, insisted that integrity was the most crucial quality required of the Commission, thus, it should strive to restore public confidence.
It also appealed to the office of the President to update Ghanaians on the status of the petition it received from the ‘concerned staff of the EC.’
The statement advised Ghanaians and politicians to desist from the politicisation of the matter, and allow due process to follow so as not to undermine the importance of the Commission.
It noted that although several issues have come out following the allegations and counter allegations, the GII commended the efforts of the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) for commencing investigations into the matter.
According to the statement, allegations of corruption and abuse of office, specifically the involvement of the two deputy chairpersons of the Commission in procurement irregularities in May 2015 involving $22.3 and $16.4 million for the purchase of Biometric Verification Devices (BVDs), signing of contracts worth more than GH¢40 million without requisite approval and authorisation were allegations that should be thoroughly investigated.
The others include illegal vote transfers of voter management and collection of six million cedis from political parties for the conduct of party primaries without recourse to the structures of the electoral management body.
By Malik Sullemana
Read Full Story
Facebook
Twitter
Pinterest
Instagram
Google+
YouTube
LinkedIn
RSS