Professor Baffour Agyeman-Duah, a former Senior UN Governance Advisor, has voiced concerns about how the dismissal of former Electoral Commission (EC) Chairperson, Charlotte Osei, continues to shape public perception of the Commission.
According to Agyeman-Duah, the incident set a precedent that has left the EC facing persistent trust issues.
In an interview on Joy News on October 29, 2024, Prof Agyeman-Duah highlighted the ongoing political implications of Osei’s removal, noting that during the 2016 election campaign, opposition parties had openly discussed removing her if they came to power.
He explained that current EC officials are now in a challenging position, facing doubts about their credibilities due to the circumstances surrounding their appointments, which have fueled opposition criticisms and eroded public trust in the Commission’s impartiality.
“The opposition then said that if they won the elections, they were going to displace her… truly, the president came in, and within three years, that came to pass,” he said.
He added that “A single individual wrote the petition to the president, who simply acted as a conveyor, sending it to the Chief Justice, who then made the decision.”
Reflecting on how these events shape current public sentiments, Agyeman-Duah stated, “In my view, that event has really tarnished the Electoral Commission’s image.”
These remarks coincide with new findings from an Afrobarometer survey, which showed a significant dip in public trust toward the EC.
With less than 40 days until the 2024 elections, the EC ranks among Ghana’s least trusted public institutions, with just 28% of survey respondents expressing confidence in its impartiality and fairness.
This marks a steep decline from the 59% trust level recorded in 2012, with trust further sliding from 33% in 2022 to a new low this year.
Source: ghanaweb.com
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