The Jean Mensah-led Commissioners of Ghana’s election referee, the Electoral Commission, may soon lose their jobs, thanks to a petition filed by one of their staff, Joseph Blankson Adumadzie.
The Petitioner, who is a database administrator at the EC headquarters, in a public statement Monday, 24 November, 2025 announced that he had formally submitted a petition to President John Mahama in accordance with Article 146 of the 1992 constitution.
“…seeking the removal of Mrs Jean Adukwei Mensa, the chairperson of the EC, DrBossman Eric Asare, deputy chairperson-corporate services and Mr Samuel Tettey, deputy chairperson-operations, from office,” the statement said.
The statement did not disclose the detailed account of the petition, except saying that it was based on 12 counts of “stated misbehaviour, including cronyism, abuse of office and gross incompetence.”
The Petitioner argued that these 12 counts collectively undermined “public confidence” in the EC and “pose a threat to the credibility, independence and integrity” of Ghana’s electoral process.
In an interview with Osei Bonsu, a radio host, the Petitioner revealed that he had not been to the office for about two years now, because he has been interdicted, based on “false accusation.”
It is unclear whether the petition stemmed from the rift, but he indicated that the issue of his interdiction was not contained in the petition. The matter, he said on air yesterday, is being litigated in court.
ARTICLE
Per the dictates of clause 3 of Article 146 of the national constitution, the president after receiving the petition, can only forward it to the Chief Justice for the determination of a prima facie case.
Clauses four and five say that where the Chief Justice decides that there is a prima facie case, he shall set up a committee, and the committee shall investigate the complaint and shall make recommendations to the CJ, who shall forward it to the President.
Article 146 deals with the removal of justices of superior courts and chairmen of regional tribunals.
However, Article 44 (2) says, “The chairman of the Electoral Commission shall have the same terms and conditions of service as a Justice of the Court of Appeal.”
Clause 3 states that “the two Deputy Chairmen of the Electoral Commission shall have the same terms and conditions of service as are applicable to a Justice of the High Court.”
The petition surfaces a week after the swearing in of the new Chief Justice, Paul Baffoe-Bonnie, by President Mahama, after a successful removal of former Chief Justice Gertrude Esaaba Sackey Torkornoo.
Chief Justice Paul Baffoe-Bonnie will be mandated to determine a prima facie case from the petition, should President Mahama forward the same to him.
It must be noted that this is not the first time a petition has been filed against a EC chair, but nothing was heard about it.
The Petitioner, Ofosu-Appiah Daniel, submitted a petition to the President on January 27, 2025, requesting the removal of Jean Mensa, Dr. BossmanAsare, Samuel Tettey and Dr. Peter Appiahene.
At the time it was submitted, Justice Gertrude EsaabaTorkornoo was the Chief Justice, who would have decided a prima facie case if President Mahama had forwarded it to her.
However, at the time of filing this report on the evening of Monday, the presidency had not commented on the new petition by a staff member of the EC, which has gained public attention.
COINCIDENCE
The current script is very similar to what played out previously and resulted in the removal of the previous chair, Charlotte Osei, and deputies.
At the time, the petition which removed the trio was also filed by staff of the EC and forwarded to the then Chief Justice, Justice Sophia Akuffo, who was appointed by President Akufo-Addo, following the retirement of Justice Georgina Theodora Wood.
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