EC safeguards must check partisan bias among commissioners – Osae-Kwapong

CDD-Ghana Fellow, Dr John Osae-Kwapong, has questioned whether internal safeguards at the Electoral Commission (EC) can prevent a partisan commissioner from advancing a political party’s interests.

Speaking on Joy News’ PM Express on Tuesday, he said concerns about openly partisan appointees should also prompt scrutiny of the Commission's internal checks.

“Are there internal safeguards? Are we so worried that we are thinking one person who is publicly partisan can actually do the bidding of a political party in the midst of six other peers?”

His comments follow President John Mahama’s swearing-in of Dr Joseph Kwaku Asamoah and Emelia Afi Agbenyo as EC deputy chairpersons on Monday, October 12.

They filled vacancies following Dr Bossman Eric Asare’s resignation and Samuel Tettey’s retirement. President Mahama tasked the new deputies with upholding impartiality and strengthening public confidence.

Dr Osae-Kwapong said other commissioners could provide a check against an individual seeking to act on partisan interests.

He said he would be less worried if an appointee lacked the influence to override colleagues and pursue a party’s agenda.

Beyond those safeguards, he proposed assessing appointees against standards former President Nana Akufo-Addo outlined when swearing in commissioners in 2023.

He described this as the “Akufo-Addo test”.

“And he talked about things like, if the person can serve with integrity, the person can serve with fairness, if the person can be professional, and if the person can show independence of mind and judgment.”

For him, the appointment should be subjected to those standards to establish whether the individual could measure up.

Dr Osae-Kwapong also questioned the distinction the public draws between openly partisan appointees and those who keep their political sympathies private.

“The second point for me then becomes this idea of the open partisan being appointed to an independent constitutional body versus the person who could be just as partisan but is more private about his or her partisanship.”

He said that visible political affiliations seemed to cause particular discomfort when an individual was appointed to an independent constitutional body.

“It appears that we have a certain level of discomfort in knowing that somebody is openly partisan and being sent to an independent constitutional body.”

His assessment emphasised both the appointee’s conduct and the ability of fellow commissioners to restrain partisan behaviour.

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DISCLAIMER: The Views, Comments, Opinions, Contributions and Statements made by Readers and Contributors on this platform do not necessarily represent the views or policy of Multimedia Group Limited.