Leadership of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) has tabled series of reasons to the Council of State asking it to reconsider its advice on the appointment of Dr. Peter Appiahene and one Hajia Salima Ahmed Tijani to the Electoral Commission.
These two of the three new members were still sworn-in by President Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo despite the reservations raised by multiple stakeholders of Ghana’s democracy.
The Coalition of Domestic Election Observers (CODEO) and other CSOs have spoken over the appointments asking government to rescind it to instill trust in the election management body.
However, the comments seem to be falling on deaf ears.
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In a release issued by the party to the Council of State Wednesday, April 19, 2023, it said “the National Democratic Congress is as equally alarmed and concerned by these recent appointments as the vast majority of the Ghanaian people who stand united in one chorus over its potential to compromise the neutrality and impartiality of the Electoral Commission, and invariably, taint the credibility of the electoral management body.”
According to the NDC, “Dr. Peter Appiahene is not only a card-bearing member of the ruling New Patriotic Party but a recognized leading figure within the ranks of the Party.”
“He has been a patron of the tertiary wing of the New Patriotic Party, TESCON, at the University of Energy and Natural Resources in Sunyani since 2017. He is a known communicator of the New Patriotic Party in the Bono Region on both radio and television. In support of these averments, we have attached on a pen drive, evidence of Dr. Appiahene’s advocacy for the NPP in the public domain as captured on audio-visuals to back up our complaint,” the Johnson Asiedu Nketiah-signed statement indicated.
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The party stated among his political positions in the NPP as follows:
• Member of the 2022 Bono Regional Election Committee of the NPP;
• Bono Regional IT Director for Election 2020 for the NPP;
• Bono Regional D-Day Coordinator for Election 2020 for the NPP;
• Member of the National Research and Data Analysis Team for Election 2020 for the NPP;
• Regional Collation Officer for NPP Internal Collation for Election 2020;
• Member of the Bono Regional Communication Team of the NPP.
Meanwhile, the NDC says the background check of Hajia Salima Ahmed Tijani reveals she has close leanings with the NPP.
“Aside the fact that Hajia Salima is herself an activist of the ruling New Patriotic Party, she is married to one Sheikh T.B Damba, a former Second National Vice Chairman of the NPP, and Ghana’s immediate-past ambassador to Saudi Arabia, from 2017 to 2021,” the statement disclosed.
They added that “her immediate family is well-rooted in the NPP tradition — her mother, one Hajia Samata. Gifty Bukari was the first female Vice Chairperson of the New Patriotic Party in the Northern Region. Her sister, one Hajia Abibata Shani Mahama Zakariah, currently serves in President Akufo-Addo’s government as the Chief Executive Officer of the Microfinance and Loans Center (MASLOC), and is a former contestant in the New Patriotic Party 2020 Parliamentary primaries in the Yendi Constituency.”
The NDC is therefore calling on the Council of State to take a relook of the appointments of the duo regarding the advice it granted the government.
You can read the full petition here.
By Felix Anim-Appau|Onuaonline.com
