Private political loyalties deserve scrutiny too in EC appointments – Osae-Kwapong

CDD-Ghana Fellow Dr John Osae-Kwapong has questioned whether public scrutiny of Electoral Commission (EC) appointments gives sufficient attention to people whose political loyalties remain private. Speaking on Joy News’ PM Express on Tuesday, he said an appointee could hold strong partisan sympathies without openly displaying them. “The second point for me then becomes this idea of the open partisan being appointed to an independent constitutional body versus the person who could be just as partisan but is more private about his or her partisanship.” He argued that public discomfort often centres on visible political affiliations.

Those whose loyalties are less apparent can attract greater acceptance. “It appears that we have a certain level of discomfort in knowing that somebody is openly partisan and being sent to an independent constitutional body.” His comments come after President John Mahama swore in Dr Joseph Kwaku Asamoah and Emelia Afi Agbenyo as EC deputy chairpersons on Monday, October 12. They fill vacancies following Dr Bossman Eric Asare’s resignation and Samuel Tettey’s retirement.

At the ceremony, the President charged the appointees with upholding electoral integrity, ensuring fairness, and strengthening public confidence. Dr Osae-Kwapong proposed assessing appointees against standards he described as the “Akufo-Addo test”. He drew those standards from remarks he said former President Nana Akufo-Addo made when swearing in EC appointees in 2023.

“And he talked about things like, if the person can serve with integrity, the person can serve with fairness, if the person can be professional, and if the person can show independence of mind and judgment.” For him, the assessment should also examine the Commission’s internal safeguards. He questioned how much influence one openly partisan member could exercise among fellow commissioners. Are we so worried that we are thinking one person who is publicly partisan can actually do the bidding of a political party in the midst of six other peers?” He said his concern would be reduced if the other commissioners could restrain a member seeking to advance partisan interests.

His argument focuses on both the individual’s conduct and the institution’s capacity to check bias. An appointee’s public political image, he suggested, does not settle either question. CDD-Ghana Fellow, Dr John Osae-Kwapong, has questioned whether internal safeguards at the Electoral Commission (EC) can prevent a partisan commissioner from advancing a political party’s interests.

Speaking on Joy News’ PM Express on Tuesday, he said concerns about openly partisan appointees should also prompt scrutiny of the Commission’s internal checks. They filled vacancies following Dr Bossman Eric Asare’s resignation and Samuel Tettey’s retirement. President Mahama tasked the new deputies with upholding impartiality and strengthening public confidence.