It will be in the interest of NPP, NDC if EC Chair is subjected to Parliamentary approval – Otukunor

The Deputy General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Peter Boamah Otokunor says it will serve the best interest of NPP and NDC if the Chairperson of Electoral Commission (EC) is subjected to Parliamentary approval.

This, he said is based on the fact that, both parties have criticized the appointment of Chairpersons of the Electoral Commission.

“The NPP decried the appointment of Charlotte Osei. In fact, they have decried appointment Afari Gyan,” he said.

Speaking on Joy FM‘s Top Story on Thursday, Mr Otukunor said the NDC is trying to fix a system which would prohibit people in authority from abusing the appointment of the EC, hence the proposal of the NDC to have Chairpersons of the EC approved by Parliament after being nominated.
“We [NDC] are saying, let’s tighten the knot so that we will not have the case where in future, we will have another President who will be abusive, authoritarian like President Akufo-Addo. So that, that person will not come and take advantage of the process,” Peter Otokunor said.
“If you look at the recommendations that we are making, they are just over simplifying the fact that NDC has appointed 2 ECs so they have appointed one so it’s 2:1 which certainly goes beyond who appointed ECs and the number of ECs that we have appointed,” he added.

Mr. Otokunor explained that although President Akufo-Addo followed the procedure of EC appointment as written in the Constitution, he believes that he abused principles because he appointed someone who had dealings with the NPP.

According to Peter Boamah Otokunor , since Mrs Jean Mensah was appointed into office by Akufo-Addo, “she has only acted visibly in the interest of the NPP and we have decried the abuse of the status.”