General News of Thursday, 20 July 2017

Source: starrfmonline.com

Stop 'witch-hunting' EC boss – NDC tells Akufo-Addo

Member of Parliament for Tamale South Haruna Iddrisu play videoMember of Parliament for Tamale South Haruna Iddrisu

The opposition National Democratic Congress has warned President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to stop attempts to remove the Chairperson of the “independent” Electoral Commission, Charlotte Osei.

According to the NDC, they will resist the “blackmail witch-hunting” of the head of the election management body.

Addressing a press conference Thursday, Minority Leader and Member of Parliament for Tamale South Haruna Iddrisu cautioned the President to “Stay off [and stop] intruding into the operations and activities of the independent EC,” adding that the NDC has tolerated the NPP hounding out Civil Servants from office since the Mr. Akufo-Addo assumed office on January 7.

The warning to the NPP comes after the Electoral Commission Chairperson Charlotte Osei on Wednesday challenged the lawyer representing the so-called concerned staff of the electoral commission who are demanding her removal from office.

In a statement Wednesday, lawyers for Mrs. Osei dared the law firm of Maxwell Opoku Agyeman, to provide the full details of the petitioners or face her in court.

A statement signed on the letterhead of Lawyer Opoku Agyeman’s law firm noted that a petition has been presented to the president to trigger an impeachment process against Mrs Osei.

Among other things, the petition said the EC chair “single-handedly renegotiated the contract with the vendor without the involvement of the members of the Commission, not even the deputies. She then awarded the contract to the tune of $21,999,592 without going through tender contrary to the Public Procurement Act. The Chairperson then re-awarded these contracts without approval from the Commission”.