Government Spokesperson Felix Kwakye Ofosu has revealed that the presidency has not yet received the EC staff petition for the removal of Jean Mensa and her two deputies.
Felix Kwakye Ofosu highlighted that petitions are normally routed through the Secretary to the President, adding that the Secretary has not sighted it yet.
Speaking on Joy News’ PM Express on Tuesday, Felix Kwakye Ofosu stated, “Normally, it will go to the Secretary to the President if it is addressed to the President. I’ve engaged him.
He has not sighted it yet, but I’m sure that if he does, there’s a process, a long-standing process, that this goes through, and any information on that will be conveyed to your public before this one,” he stated.
He further added that he is not aware of any other petition for the removal of the Electoral Commission Chairperson, Jean Mensa and her two deputies.
“I’m not aware of any other petition. At the very least, I don’t have a briefing that there’s any other such petition. But if such a petition exists, and it comes to the attention of the secretary’s office, the public will know, in the same way that the Chief Justice became a matter of public commentary because we put it out first, of course respecting the constitutional processes, the same thing will be done if indeed such a petition has come.”
He further explained why the Mahama administration is publicly updating Ghanaians on sensitive petitions against public office holders.
Felix Kwakye Ofosu explained, “Because, see, there’s a need for transparency and accountability. We hold this office in trust. Ten months ago, I was not the one doing this job. It was somebody else. So it’s not a position that we own. We pass through that position for a brief moment”.
“Whilst doing that, we use the mandate and resources of the people of Ghana to execute our roles. The same people need to know exactly what we are doing with their mandate and resources. If somebody has slapped in a petition about any public office holder, it’s only fair that we tell the public that this is what we have received. This is the defined process for dealing with this sort of thing, and this is what has been done.”
He added, “People shouldn’t just wake up one day and find that the Chief Justice has been… when nobody knew how that started in the first place.”
“It is purely in the interest of transparency and accountability that we keep the people informed, of course, within the confines of the law, so that we don’t do anything that violates the law, because we are not required, or we are not allowed to do that as a government.”
Felix Kwakye Ofosu’s remarks follow reports that Joseph Blankson Adumadzie, a staff member of the Electoral Commission (EC), has petitioned President John Dramani Mahama for the removal of EC Chairperson Jean Mensa and her two deputies, Dr Bossman Eric Asare and Samuel Tettey.
The EC staff member in his petition cited alleged misconduct that he claims threatens the credibility of Ghana’s electoral system.
According to Joseph Blankson Adumadzie, his petition was submitted in line with Article 146 of the 1992 Constitution.
He, however, refuses to provide details in the petition, adding that it is anchored on 12 counts of stated misbehaviour.
The allegations include “cronyism, abuse of office, and gross incompetence”.
The petitioner added that the conduct of the three senior officials has eroded public confidence in the EC and poses a risk to the integrity and independence of Ghana’s electoral process.
He also argued that his actions are driven solely by the need to safeguard the Constitution and strengthen accountable governance.