ADVERTISEMENT

EC chair to sue petitioners for defamation

She said that the petitioners made unsubstantiated claims intended to damage her reputation.

Some workers on Wednesday petitioned the president, Nana Akufo-Addo, asking for investigations into allegations of fraud and financial malfeasance against the Chair of the election management body.

They are also demanding her removal over allegations that she terminated a contract with STL and unilaterally renegotiated a contract with a vendor of the EC for $21,999,592 without informing her deputies or other commissioners.

ADVERTISEMENT

The petition, signed by the lawyer for the workers, Maxwell Opoku-Agyemang, described as fraudulent Mrs Osei’s cancellation of a contract between the EC and Superlock Technologies Limited (STL) – a company contracted to supply and manage Biometric Voter Registration machines (BVRs) and the Biometric Voter Devices (BVDs), as well as, coupled with her ordering of the payment of $76,000 to IT firm Dream Oval.

"The Commission signed a contract with Super Tech (STL) Limited on the premise of that Voter Registration Exercise was going to be electoral area based. Upon assumption of office as Chairperson of the Commission, Mrs. Charlotte Osei unilaterally abrogated the said contract without recourse to the same Commission that approved the earlier version,” the petition said.

"She single-handedly renegotiated the contract with the vendor without the involvement of the members of the Commission, not even the deputies. She then awarded the contract to the tune of $21,999,592 without going through tender contrary to the Public Procurement Act. The Chairperson then re-awarded these contracts without approval from the Commission."

But in a letter written by her lawyers, to the lawyer of the petitioners, the EC chair is demanding the list of the names of workers who had made the claims for her removal.

ADVERTISEMENT

“Having observed from your letter by virtue of which the petition to the President conveyed; that your client is an amorphous group of people described as “concerned staff of the electoral commission”, our client has instructed us to demand from you, and we hereby so demand the full list of these “concerned staff of the electoral commission” to enable us commence legal action against them for the defamatory statement contained in their petition failure which our client will be constrained to proceed against you alone as defendant in the suit our client intends to commence against them since you are, to all intents and purposes, their agent.

“Our client’s decision to seek remedy in court for the protection of her reputation is without prejudice to article 106 proceeding triggered by you”, the letter stated.

JOIN OUR PULSE COMMUNITY!

Unblock notifications in browser settings.
ADVERTISEMENT

Eyewitness? Submit your stories now via social or:

Email: eyewitness@pulse.com.gh

ADVERTISEMENT