Calls for resignation of 2 EC board members unlikely to happen – Professor Gyampo

He said this is unlikely to happen because there is no resignation culture in Ghana.

Speaking on Citi FM in Accra, he said unless the two people - Peter Appiahene and Hajia Salima Ahmed Tijani – are pushed to resign, it will never happen.

“If you call for the resignation of a typical Ghanaian public servant, you will merely be romancing a spoon because the culture of resignation is not ingrained in our psyche unless one is pushed to resign.”

He also stated that some stakeholders are concerned about interference in institutions that are supposed to function as independent bodies.

“People will look at the legitimacy and independence of the commission with some trepidation and when that happens, they are pushed with aggression and defence at all times and see everything that the commission does as wrong even when the Commission means well. We cannot allow this to go on in perpetuity. The EC itself requires institutional peace to be able to carry out its activities else election management will suffer.”

His remarks follow recent demands by the Coalition of Domestic Election Observers (CODEO) for Dr. Peter Appiahene and Hajia Salima Ahmed Tijani to step down from their position at the Electoral Commission.

Dr. Peter Appiahene is said to be a patron of the Tertiary Students Confederacy (TESCON), implying that his allegiance is with the ruling government.

In an address on behalf of CODEO, Rev. Dr. Fred Deegbe said the two newly appointed EC members to resign voluntarily.

Professor Ransford Gyampo Pulse Ghana

"We are painfully aware that voluntary and constitutionally grounded revocation of this unfortunate and democratically problematic EC appointment by the President is extremely unlikely.

"However nothing stops the affected appointees namely Dr. Peter Appiahene and Hajia Salima Ahmed Tijani from voluntarily and honourably resigning from membership of the EC," he said.

He added that the resignation will "be in the supreme interest of our country's continual democratic progress, election peace, and credibility and indeed, the overall national interest."

The new EC members replace Mrs. Hajia Sa-Adatu Maida, Ebenezer Aggrey-Fynn, and Mrs. Rebecca Kabukie Adjalo who have all retired.

They have therefore joined Mrs. Jean Mensa as Chairperson, Mr. Samuel Tettey as Deputy Chairman for Operations, Dr. Bossman Eric Asare, as Deputy Chairman for Corporate, and Ms. Adwoa Asuama Abrefa as Commissioner.