The Eastern Regional Secretariat of the National Democratic Congress has raised serious concerns over what it describes as "Karma has caught up with Jean Mensa, the chair of the Electoral Commission."
This statement points to what it perceives as a pattern of biased decisions, referencing previous comments by Jean Mensa in 2020 when she advised the National Democratic Congress to challenge the declarations of returning officers in constituencies that favoured the National Patriotic Party in court.
The party argues that Jean Mensa is contradicting herself by suggesting that in some areas, returning officers' declarations made under duress should not be upheld.
The Secretariat alleges that Jean Mensa has consistently worked in favour of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), even amid the commission's controversial decisions during the recent elections.
"Upon her assumption as EC chair, she has been doing the bidding of the NPP, and jointly suffering their most humiliating defeat, she is stubbornly pushing her diabolic plan to secure additional seats for the NPP", the statement read.
These accusations are based on several incidents they believe demonstrate Jean Mensa's bias and lack of integrity in ensuring free and fair elections. One of the primary issues raised involves the Fanteakwa North constituency, where the returning officer initially declared the NDC candidate as the Member of Parliament-elect.
However, the NPP executives and the EC allegedly forced the Deputy Returning Officer to illegally redo the declaration at the Tesano Police Training School, favouring the NPP candidate.
The Secretariat asserts that Jean Mensa now claims the declaration of the returning officer, who has the statutory authority to announce parliamentary results, is invalid, while the deputy returning officer's declaration holds legal weight.
"Jean Mensah is telling us the declaration of the returning officer who has statutory authority to declare parliamentary results does not hold, but that of the deputy holds".