Martin Amidu, a former attorney and minister of justice, has slammed Ghanaians who are criticising President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo for his recent appointment to the Electoral Commission of Ghana.

The former attorney general, in a statement sighted by GhanaWeb, accused Ghanaians of being selective in their criticism of the president.

According to him, Akufo-Addo since he became president has continued to appoint ‘hardcore’ New Patriotic Party (NPP) members and his family relations to state institutions that are supposed to be independent, but Ghanaians were silent.

The veteran lawyer added that it is the silence of Ghanaians on Akufo-Addo’s blatant abuse of power since 2017 that has emboldened him to continue with his family and friends' appointments.

“Nana Akufo-Addo would not have abused the spirit of Chapter Seven (7) of the 1992 Constitution on the sanctity of the right to vote and the Electoral Commission if We the People had not in the past five and half years, condoned the Government’s several abuses of power and impunity.

“Autocrats are empowered and emboldened by the conviction that their citizens are so cowardly or passive that they may only feebly criticize government policies and decisions made in abuse of power and with impunity.

“Autocrats have come to believe that whatever opposition the electorate has against their dictatorial decisions will soon be forgotten in a few weeks of “noise making” and still return them or their chosen successors to power at the next election,” he wrote.

Background:

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, on Monday, March 20, 2023, swore-in three new members of the Electoral Commission of Ghana (EC) at the Jubilee House.

The three new members of the EC, Dr. Peter Appiahene, Hajia Salima Ahmed Tijani, and Reverend Akua Ofori Boateng, are expected to serve in their new roles until the end of the 2024 elections and are replacements for members of the commission who recently retired.

Akufo-Addo has been heavily criticized for the appointment because some of the appointees are said to be known members of the New Patriotic Party (NPP).

The president is being particularly berated for the appointment of Dr. Peter Appiahene, who is said to be a patron of TESCON, the tertiary education branch of the NPP and Salima Ahmed Tijani, whose family relations are leading members of the NPP.

Dr Appiahene is said to have held the following position in the NPP

1. Member of the 2022 Bono Regional Election Committee
2. Bono Regional IT Director for Election 2020
3. Bono Regional D-day Coordinator for Elections 2020
4. Member of the National Research and Data Analysis Team for Election 2020.
5. Regional Collation Officer representing NPP at the Bono EC office
6. Regional Collation Officer for NPP Internal Collation for Election 2020
7. Member of the Bono Regional Communications Team
8. Member of Let My Vote Count Alliance.
9. Organised training for all Bono Constituency D-Day Coordinators and Parliamentary Candidates, Chairmen and Secretaries for the 2020 Elections.
10. Organised training for all Bono Constituency IT coordinators and Polling Station Executives for Elections 2020.
11. Funding Member of UENR (University of Energy and Natural Resources, Sunyani)TESCON
12. Patron of UENR TESCON
13. TESCON Member of the University of Education, Winneba

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