I couldn't believe my ears; I was like What is it?"We made all the noise against Akufo-Addo's appointment. In 2024, the NDC raised issues against the director of the EC; we were here making all the noise."This is a strong race to the bottom.
I am not sure that after a year I will continue to support JM. This appointment doesn't look like him, the reset he promised."Earlier, the Coalition of Domestic Election Observers (CODEO) also criticised the appointment of Ms Emelia Affi Agbenyo, a known activist of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), as Deputy Chairperson of the Electoral Commission (EC) of Ghana.President John Dramani Mahama administered the oath of office to two newly appointed Deputy Chairpersons of the Electoral Commission (EC), charging them to execute their constitutional mandate with independence, firmness, and impartiality.Swearing in Joseph Kwaku Asamoah and Emilia Afi Agbenyo, the President stated that neither he nor his administration should receive preferential treatment from the electoral body.He directed the new commissioners to hold all political parties and candidates to the same standards, guided strictly by the law and the national interest.This appointment has attracted criticism against the president.CODEO said in a statement that concerns about Ms.
Agbenyo’s appointment are not about her professional qualification or technical competence. Rather, it reflects a consistent principle of the Coalition that the independence and credibility of the Electoral Commission must be protected, and its leadership must inspire public confidence in its impartiality, regardless of which political party is in government.Unfortunately, it said, the failure to mitigate these perceptions of bias by individual members of the Commission has severely affected citizen trust in the Commission, reaching its lowest ratings in 2024, according to the Afrobarometer."The repeated failure to use the Presidential appointing power to reset the politics around the appointment of members to the Commission for the good of the country is extremely disappointing and frustrating.
CODEO’s Call In March 2023, President John Dramani Mahama, while in opposition, criticised the appointment of persons he described as 'known party activists' to the Electoral Commission and called for an amendment of Article 43(2) of the 1992 Constitution to require parliamentary approval of new Commissioners.
He also affirmed his commitment to these reforms. CODEO considers this position relevant to the present circumstances."The concerns President Mahama raised in opposition about partisan associations and the safeguards for the Electoral Commission’s independence are now directly relevant to appointments made under his own administration.