The General Secretary of the New Patriotic Party, Mr. John Boadu has urged individuals kicking against President Akufo-Addo’s nomination of Jean Mensa as new EC Chairperson to prove her incompetence for the job.
President Akufo-Addo on Monday July 23, nominated Mrs Jean Mensa, Executive Director of the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) as the new Chair of the EC with her deputies being political science lecturer at the University of Ghana, Dr. Eric Asare Bossman and Samuel Tettey, Director of Electoral services in charge of elections at the EC pending approval by the Council of State.
The appointments followed the removal of former EC Chairperson Charlotte Osei and her two deputies Amadu Sulley and Georgina Opoku Amankwah from office following recommendations by the Chief Justice’s committee.
Following the appointments, the opposition NDC has kicked against the appointment of Jean Mensa as the new EC chair, on the grounds that she is politically tainted. The NDC and other minority members of parliament have subsequently accused President Akufo-Addo of using this means to rig the 2020 elections.
Responding to the claims, however, Mr. John Boadu speaking in an interview monitored by PrimeNewsGhana dared those who were against the appointment to prove Mrs. Mensa’s incompetence for the job.
READ ALSO: Nominating Jean Mensa as EC Chair is senseless – NDC
He said, “This position is about competence, integrity, and neutrality, and any of them who are kicking against it should prove that these criteria, the person does not have it. With such argument, then we’ll also be able to discuss, but for someone to say: ‘I have quarreled with the person one time or the other, or my organisation had difficulty with her organisation, so, all individuals coming from that organisation should not hold public position, I don’t think is fair.’”
The NPP general secretary further added that the party has no position on the appointments, citing that even though they had difficulties with the former EC boss, they lived with it until issues were laid bare later.
“We have no position really. It’s the constitution of our country. We’ve lived with it for the past so many years since the inception of the fourth republican constitution and this is a process that has gone on with Afari Gyan…Charlotte Osei, even her, with all the difficulties, we had difficulties, but we lived with it until they themselves quarreled and brought issues among themselves that necessitated workers of the commission to petition the president and the president had to go through the process as prescribed by the constitution.
“So, I don’t see anything different from what we are doing until I have with me evidence that makes either Jean Mensa or any other person appointed incompetent or lack neutrality or integrity, then we can proceed on that,” he stressed.
Meanwhile, the NDC has vowed to “in due course provide further and better particulars of the open and covert activities of Jean Mensah which makes her unfit to occupy the high position of Chairperson of the Electoral Commission of the Republic of Ghana.”
RELATED: “Jean Mensah was born in a manger of the NPP” – Koku Anyidoho
