Deputy Chairperson of the Electoral Commission (EC), Dr Joseph Kwaku Asamoah, says managers of the Commission must interrogate why some Ghanaians believe public trust in the institution has dwindled over the years.
According to him, the Commission belongs to Ghanaians and their verdict should guide its work.
Speaking on Onua TV’s morning show, Maakye, on Tuesday, October 13, 2026, he said the need to regain public confidence has become crucial.
His comment was in response to a question on his assessment of the performance of EC Chairperson, Jean Mensa, so far.
Dr Asamoah told co-host, Afia Tagor, that he did not want to be biased in assessing his boss.
“Ghanaians would be the best to assess. I don’t want to be biased. I think Ghanaians are the verdict of the work that we do,” he said.
He explained that rating their own work would amount to self-praise, which could lead to complacency. “If you’re working and begin to flatter yourself, you begin to gloss over certain things,” he noted.
The public, he added, should therefore be allowed to judge the work of the Commission. “Let the citizens say this is how your work is. If it’s good, then you seek continuous improvement of that,” he said.
“If they say it’s not good, then you ask them how. Then you make changes,” he added.
When his attention was drawn to assertions that public trust in the EC has dwindled, Dr. Asamoah said the concerns strike at the heart of the Commission’s mandate.
“You’ve now hit the nail right on the head that some Ghanaians say their trust in the EC has dwindled,” he stated.
He stated that managers of the Commission have a responsibility to find out the basis for that perception and work to address it.
“If that’s how Ghanaians are saying, as I said earlier, the Commission belongs to Ghanaians so if that’s what they are saying, we as managers of the Commission need to meet and ask why they are saying so,” he said.
“What are their basis, what can we do to regain that confidence so we do it and solve it and when we do and everything is okay, it is for the benefit of the nation,” he added.
President John Dramani Mahama on Monday, October 12, 2026, swore in Emelia Afi Agbenyo and Dr. Joseph Kwaku Asamoah as Deputy Chairpersons of the Electoral Commission at the Jubilee House.
The two replace Dr. Bossman Eric Asare, who was in charge of Corporate Affairs and resigned effective July 31, 2026, to return to academia at the University of Ghana, and Samuel Tettey, who was in charge of Operations and retired after attaining the mandatory retirement age of 65.
Dr Asamoah is a lawyer, chartered accountant and lecturer at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) with over 17 years experience in electoral administration.
He previously served the EC as Director of Finance, Director of the Training Centre and Head of Audit and played a role in the 2012 and 2016 general elections.
Ms Agbenyo previously served as Deputy Director for Operations at the Ghana TVET Service and as a Commissioner at the National Development Planning Commission.
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