President John Mahama on Thursday announced the appointment of Charlotte Osei as the new Chairperson of the Electoral Commission (EC) of Ghana.
Mrs Osei is taking over from Dr. Kwadwo Afari Gyan who has retired after almost two decades as Chairman of the Commission.
The lawyer, who until her new appointment was the Chairperson of the National Commission for Civic Education, could be in charge of Ghana’s electoral administration body for the next 28 years or so.
Already her appointment has ruffled feathers, with a lobby group called Let My Vote Count querying her political leanings and asking for an interpretation as to whether it is the Council of State which selects the individual to be appointed as EC Chairperson and the President should only endorse the individual selected to the job.
The Supreme Court hears the substantive case on July 14 around the constitutional procedure for appointing the EC Chair. But the lobby group is challenging the reason why the President has ignored the judicial process and gone ahead with the appointment.
Other issues of concern include how the new EC Chair will handle various electoral reform proposals, including the creation of a new voters register and introduction of a biometric voter’s ID card that contains the bio data of the voter card on a chip in his or her new voter ID.
Mrs Osei will also be tasked with implementing a myriad of reforms agreed by various major stakeholders.
