Acceptance of from vehicle from government not a new practice
Mrs Charlotte Osei, the Electoral Commission (EC) Chairperson, says her acceptance of a vehicle from government following her appointment did not compromise her neutrality.
“This is certainly not a new practice in Ghana’s public service. Indeed, the office of the Chief of Staff provided and continues to provide vehicles for many government institutions and appointees,” Mrs Osei stated in a 17 paged document response to a petition by unknown concerned staff of the EC through their lawyer to the President for her impeachment.
She said the Chairperson could therefore not have compromised her independence or neutrality as she neither requested nor lobbied for the said vehicle.
“Indeed, this flawed argument would imply that the Commission receiving money from the Government compromises the neutrality of the Commission,” she said.
The petitioners claimed: “Following her appointment as EC chair, Mrs Osei compromised the independence and neutrality of the Commission by arranging for 2015 V8 Landcruiser with registration WR 2291-15 from the Office of the President for use as official vehicle without going through the procurement process or recourse to the Commission.
However, Mrs Osei in her response said: “Mrs. Osei does not use a vehicle with the said registration number WR2291-15. Following her appointment as Chairperson, the Office of the Chief of Staff allocated Mrs Osei a vehicle.”
“This is certainly not a new practice in Ghana’s public service. Indeed, the office of the Chief of Staff provided and continues to provide vehicles for many government institutions and appointees,” she added.
She said: “As a point of order with regard to the recent unfounded accusations leveled at Mrs Charlotte Osei in her capacity as Chairperson of the EC Ghana, Mr Maxwell Opoku-Agyemang is not a staff member of the Commission.
“Whilst he claims to act on behalf of ‘Concerned Staff’ of the Commission, he has not made clear who those ‘staff’ indeed are.”
Mrs Osei explained that this was of particular importance as he Mr Opoku-Agyemang had previously introduced himself at another forum as counsel for Ms Georgina Opoku-Amankwaa, the Deputy Chairperson Corporate Services of the Commission.
The EC Chairperson said in order for the petition to be considered as a legitimate submission on behalf of the staff, the names and signatures of the concerned staff must be provided in support of the “so-called petition submitted”.
Source: GNA