Akufo-Addo has no moral right to impeach Charlotte Osei – NDC’s Kofi Adams

The organizer of the opposition National Democratic Congress said the several acts of procurement breaches which formed the basis of the removal of the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission were not justifiable enough to warrant her impeachment.

Kofi Adams said the acts of “misbehavior and incompetence” cited in the report of the Chief Justice Committee did not form part of the core mandate of the Electoral Commission for which reason the impeachment of Mrs. Charlotte Osei was unjustifiable.

“Every institution has a core mandate; The EC’s core mandate is to organize elections. None of the issues raised affected the core mandate of the EC,” he said, adding, these are matters internal auditors could quickly rectify.

He is convinced the impeachment of Mrs. Charlotte Osei and her two deputies is “politically motivated.”

Out of a 27-point petition littered with accusations of corruption, abuse of office, six of them were found to be substantial enough to justify her impeachment.
Her two other deputies Amadu Sulley and Georgina Opoku Amankwaah each had four accusations of misconduct against them.

When the Chief Justice committee completed its investigations Mrs. Charlotte Osei was found guilty of all six allegations of procurement breaches in hiring a lawyer, building a website, logo and other financial breaches.

The two others were also found guilty of the four allegations leveled against them. The Committee then recommended the impeachment of the three, a recommendation the president had no choice but to accept as stipulated by the 1992 Constitution.

Shortly after the announcement of the impeachment, the NDC organized a late night press conference vowing to resist the president’s decision even if it meant shedding blood.

That was before the reasons for their impeachment were made public.

Even after the reasons had been made public, Kofi Adams insists the NDC’s position has not changed. If anything they is all the more convinced the president’s decision was politically motivated.

According to him, the president is “cherry-picking” on which petition to forward to the Chief Justice, claiming the president had been presented with a petition to remove the Chief Justice but has failed to act.

He accused the president of a selectively applying the law.

“For the president, there are two set of rules; the ones that apply for people they like and people they don’t like,” he stated.

He said the NDC will resist any attempt by the government to replace Charlotte Osei with “their own people.”

But a Deputy Attorney General Joseph Dindiok Kpemka the government believes in the rule of law and will not renege on its dictates.

He said the president followed due process of law in the removal of the EC hair and her two deputies.

He said the president is an outstanding lawyer of many years who will ensure “everything will be done with rules, not with emotions and sentiments.”