Managing Editor of the Insight newspaper, Kwesi Pratt Jnr
• Kwesi Pratt says there is a petition against the Chairperson of the EC, Jean Mensa
• President Akufo-Addo is however unwilling to act on the petition
• The law requires the president to refer the petition to the Chief Justice
Kwesi Pratt Jnr, the Managing Editor of the Insight newspaper has alleged that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has failed to act on a petition seeking the removal of the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission, Jean Mensa.
Pratt said on Metro TV’s Good Morning Ghana show on Wednesday, July 15, 2020 that a group has petitioned the president with some allegations against Jean Mensa.
He said that unlike the case of former EC Chair Charlotte Osei where the president swiftly referred the petition to the Chief Justice, he seems to be dragging his feet on the one against Jean Mensa.
Kwesi Pratt said the constitution is clear that in matters like this, the president acts as ‘conveyor belt’ and passes on the petition to the Chief Justice to decide if there is some merit in the petition.
This practice has however been stagnated with President Akufo-Addo’s unwillingness to forward the petition to the appropriate quarters.
“I like to go back to the case of Charlotte Osei, when the petition went to the Head of State, we were told that in those circumstances, the head of state cannot determine whether the petition is frivolous or not. When he receives it, he must pass it on to the next level. That’s what we were told. I do know that there have been a similar petition against the current chairperson of the Electoral Commission. Why haven’t we gone to the next level. Why has the president not acted as a conveyer belt now?” he quizzed.
Kwesi Pratt clarified that his observation is not an endorsement of the content of the petition but wants the law to be applied consistently and without favor.
“I’m not saying the allegations against her are true or she is guilty. She may be an innocent woman doing a legitimate work and working properly but if we say the principle is that the president is merely a conveyer belt and that the moment he receives a petition, he is bound to pass it on to the next level for process to begin, what about this case?” he asked.
Charlotte Osei, it will be recalled was removed as EC chair in June 2018 following a recommendation by a committee formed by the then Chief Justice, Sophia Akuffo.
The committee after probing the allegations made against Charlotte Osei by some staff of the Electoral Commission proposed she and two other deputy commissioners be fired.
The President adopted the recommendations and fired Charlotte Osei along with her two deputies, Amadu Sulley and Georgina Opoku Amankwaa.
