A member of the Communications Team of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Ellen Ama Daaku, has not described in no kind words the petition presented by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) to the Council of State over two of the three recently sworn-in members of the Electoral Commission, Ghana (EC).
She said being charitable, she would describe the petition as one of the “most unhealthful” ever presented.
“It is one of the most unhealthful petitions ever presented,” she stated on The Big Issues segment of New Day on TV3 on Thursday, April 20.
She said by the concerns being raised by the NDC, the largest opposition party is only telling its supporters that they are not ready for election 2024.
The NDC and, indeed, some civil society organisations have raised concerns about the background of two of the recently appointed members of the Commission.
In a petition written by National Chairman Johnson Asiedu Nketia to the Council of State, the NDC raised concerns that Dr Peter Appiahene and Hajia Salima Ahmed Tijani are politically exposed to be appointed to such a sensitive position.
Mr Asiedu Nketia indicated, after adducing evidence, that “it is demonstrably clear that the positions and roles of these [two] appointees within the NPP compromise their capacity to act with any form of neutrality”.
For the NDC, “the appointment of a personality with such overwhelmingly partisan credentials into the Electoral Commission will hamper public confidence in the constitutionally independent body and undermine the conduct of free, fair and transparent elections in Ghana”.
The opposition party, therefore, asked the Council of State to reconsider its advice, if any, given to Pesident Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to appoint the two to the EC board.
But Madam Ama Daaku believes the NDC are only not ready for next year’s elections and are just crying foul for nothing.