Chairperson of the Electoral Commission says allegations of abuse of office and fraud leveled against her by some unnamed staff of the Commission are baseless and frivolous.
Charlotte Osei has issued a press release on calls by the unnamed staff calling for her impeachment, stating that she has appropriate responses to all 29 allegations on which the calls for her impeachment are founded on.
“I understand from the media that the Presidency has received the alleged petition. I have my full responses ready for each and every allegation made in the so-called petition. However, in deference to His Excellency the President of the Republic, for whom I have the highest levels of respect, I would respectfully wait to be formally informed by the Presidency before I make my responses public,” she said in the release dated July 21, 2017.
Some unnamed group of workers have petitioned President Nana Akufo-Addo to remove Charlotte Osei through a counsel, alleging among other things that she single-handedly renegotiated contracts to the tune of almost $22 million without recourse to the Public Procurement Act.
Related: Impeachment petition against EC chair likely to fail- Lawyer
The petition also claims that the EC Chair’s posturing during last year’s general election almost plunged the entire country into instability.
In a sharp rebuttal, Mrs Charlotte Osei also threatened the faceless staff with a defamation suit through her own lawyer, Thaddeus Sory.
Mr Sory has written to Maxwell Opoku Agyemang, lawyer for the petitioners, demanding that he presents the names and identities of the workers of the EC so that legal action will be taken against them, failing which he the lawyer will be named as the defendant.
However, in the release from the EC Chairperson, she has said the allegations against her person are “a product of an overactive evil imagination, and do not deserve any serious attention.”
Read the full release below.
PRESS RELEASE
ALLEGATIONS AGAINST ME ARE BOGUS
My attention has been drawn to a litany of phony allegations made against me by a certain Maxwell Opoku Agyemang in a supposed ‘petition’ on behalf of unidentified person(s), asking for my removal from office.
The contents of the said ‘petition’ which has been widely circulated on social media and published by the mainstream media, are frivolous, baseless and are actuated by malice and ill will. These allegations are in my view, the product of an overactive evil imagination, and do not deserve any serious attention.
I wish to state categorically that all the defamatory allegations are outright lies and without any merit whatsoever.
I understand from the media that the Presidency has received the alleged petition. I have my full responses ready for each and every allegation made in the so-called petition. However, in deference to His Excellency the President of the Republic, for whom I have the highest levels of respect, I would respectfully wait to be formally informed by the Presidency before I make my responses public.
I take the opportunity to express my heartfelt appreciation to the staff of the Electoral Commission, political leaders from the various political parties, and members of the general public for the overwhelming support shown to my family and I so far. I am absolutely certain that once again, history and the truth will vindicate the just.
The political motive hunting would not serve the greater purpose. The ‘motiveless malignity’ behind this Petition are self-seeking and faceless individuals with the sole motive of satisfying their purely personal vendetta against my person and protecting illegal financial interests.
Finally, the Electoral Commission is an independent governance institution, non- partisan and with full protections for its officials under the 1992 Constitution of Ghana. I would wish that the political actors would respect the constitutional framework provided for the Commission and support in upholding the supreme interest of the Commission for the wider interest of our democracy.
Thank you.
Signed
Charlotte Osei (Mrs.)
Chairperson
Electoral Commission Ghana
