President Refers Petition Against Charlotte to CJ

The President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has referred to the Chief Justice, Justice Sophia Akuffo, a petition seeking to impeach the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission (EC), Mrs. Charlotte Osei.

This was contained in a statement signed and issued on Wednesday, 26th July, 2017, by Eugene Arhin, Director of Communications at the Presidency.

"Whilst the President was out of the country, the Office of the President received a petition, initially undated and unsigned, against the Chairperson of the EC," it noted.

"Subsequently, counsel for the petitioners, Maxwell Opoku Agyemang, Esq., by a letter dated 20th July, 2017, wrote to the Office of the President, setting out the names of the petitioners and the date of the petition," the statement observed.

The petition, signed by 17 staff members at the EC, was purported to invoke Article 146(3) of the Constitution, in respect of the office of the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission, Mrs Charlotte Osei, who has been in the news for some days now, but for all the negative reasons.

Pursuant to the terms of Article 146(3), President Akufo-Addo thus referred the petition to the Chief Justice for resolution, in accordance with the provisions of Article 146(3).

Article 146(3) indicates: "If the President receives a petition for the removal of a Justice of a Superior Court other than the Chief Justice, or for the removal of the Chairman of a Regional Tribunal, he shall refer the petition to the Chief Justice, who shall determine whether there is a prima facie case."

Clause (4) of the same Article reads: "Where the Chief Justice decides that there is a prima facie case, he shall set up a committee consisting of three Justices of the Superior Courts or Chairmen of the Regional Tribunals or both, appointed by the Judicial Council of State, nor members of Parliament, nor lawyers, and who shall be appointed by the Chief Justice on the advice of the Council of State."

The Chairperson of the EC, and her two deputies, Mr. Amadu Sulley and Mad. Georgina Opoku Amankwah, have been trading what many have described as 'scandalous,' allegations.

The 'drama' began when the Chairperson, after responding to the 27 allegations leveled against her, revealed what she captioned as 'further particulars.'

Interestingly, the further particulars exposed the EC more than what was contained in the original petition, as issues of corruption, insubordination and arrogance, just to mention a few, were all raised against the two deputies by the Chairperson.

Mr. Amadu Sulley, Deputy Commissioner in-Charge of Operations, debunked the allegations and threatened possible legal battle, whilst the other deputy, Mad. Georgina Opoku Amankwah, Corporate Services, responded that she would not want to bring down the "dignity" of the Commission, but will speak at the appropriate time.

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