“Except as provided in this Constitution or in any other law not inconsistent with this Constitution, in the performance of its functions, the Electoral Commission shall not be subject to the direction or control of any person or authority” – Article 46 of the Constitution of the Republic of Ghana, 1992.
Until 1968, this country did not have an Electoral Commission. The work, done by the Electoral Commission, was done by the Ministry of Local Government, and their task was to ensure the conduct of free, fair and honest elections.
Do not remind those of us septuagenarians how elections were conducted in the 40’s, 50’s and (early) 60’s. You (if you are a septuagenarian) may remember the 1964 Referendum held on 31st January 1964. It was to amend the 1960 Constitution to turn the country into a one-party state. Total number of voters was 2,776,372 (100%). There were ‘0’ (0.00%) invalid or blank votes.
Those who said “Yes” were 2,773,920 (99.91%). Those who said “No” were 2,452 (0.09%). The Workers (Builders) Brigade were all over the place supervising the voting, and who dare you show your face as opposition to the Convention People’s Party! The results of the Referendum were announced, and the whole Ghana became a one-party state, that is, CPP became the sole legal party.
Dr. Kwame Nkrumah became President for life (for the country and the party). Nkrumah had the power and authority to dismiss the Supreme and High Court judges at will. We were very young then, but we saw everything “fili-fili”. The “No” boxes were sealed, and one person in CPP could vote many times.
With the military coup in 1966, the Siriboe Committee was formed by the National Liberation Council (NLC) to re-examine the electoral procedures and make recommendations to restructure local governance.
Justice Johnson Boateng Siriboe’s 16-member Committee, overwhelmed by incidences of political manipulation and rigging, recommended the creation of a permanent independent body – the Interim Electoral Commission of 1968, paving the way for the present-day Electoral Commission.
Justice V. C. R. A. C. Crabbe, who became the Electoral Commissioner, resigned in 1971 to go back to the Bench, leaving G. A. K. Bonsu to be the next Commissioner. Under Kutu Acheampong’s National Redemption Council, Isaac Abban was appointed Interim Electoral Commissioner in 1972. Abban went into hiding after the 1978 referendum on Union Government (Unigov). Joseph Kingsley Nyinah took over and he supervised the general election which brought Dr. Hilla Limann to power in the Third Republic, after J. J Rawlings handed over the AFRC in 1979 to civilian rule.
The present Electoral Commission is established by the Electoral Commission Act (Act 451) of 1993, and the first Chairman of the Fourth Republic was Kwadwo Afari-Gyan (1993–2015). Afari-Gyan was succeeded by Charlotte Osei, who was sacked by Nana Akufo-Addo on assuming the presidency in 2018, and replaced by Jean Adukwei Mensa.
The persons in the Electoral Commission are supposed to be non-partisan. Hence, in the pre-2024 election, Mahama had to question President Akufo-Addo’s appointments to the Electoral Commission: “Ehu abo wɔnom, enti wonom de NPP foɔ complete akɔ Electoral Commission — the appointments of Rev. Ofori Boateng, Salima Appiahene… Yɛbɛyɛ wɔn te sɛ Azumah Nelson…” (They are now drenched in fear, hence they have assembled NPP people into the Electoral Commission, but we will deal with them just as Azumah Nelson did…).
The Television Stations were active last Saturday, TV3 programme.
So also was “Joy News” hosted by Lardi Anyenini. Excellent panel at both stations; excellent phone-ins. You could be sure Professor Agyemang-Duah would be available to supply the missing links and add his invaluable experienced opinion: “Can she (Emelia Agbenyo) on her own manipulate the electoral process? I don’t believe so… Raise the bar, don’t lower it… The Afro-Barometer findings should be our guide… we should try and retain the independence of the judiciary as well as that of the Electoral Commission… why this unnecessary brouhaha?… The President should be guided by history, having been President before… he should sanitise our democratic march… he should not take the wishes of the public for granted… the call by CODEO should be a guide”.
With this accusation, the least one would expect President Mahama to do would be for him to appoint Emelia Affi Agbenyo, a known NDC activist, into the E. C. as a Deputy Commissioner to make a total of seven (7) as per the 1992 Constitution, Felix Ofosu Kwakye would “employ all his communication skills” to justify Emelia Agbenyo’s appointment.
Did Ofosu Kwakye mean that NDC seeks by this appointment to “balance” the equation of the institution or the NDC seeks to “dilute” the effect of NPP’s packing of the E. C. with its members? Wouldn’t the explanation have been better as: “We (NDC) criticised Nana Akufo-Addo’s (NPP) appointments to the EC and we criticised same, we now see that he was right, so we want to do same.”
But the question remains: “Can’t NDC get an equally suitable person for Madam Agbenyo’s job? Perhaps we have to believe Martin Kpebu’s claim that “President Mahama was not properly advised, instead of subjecting itself to all these unnecessary bashings?
Ofosu Kwakye would say “NPP waged a war of attrition” (and the claim is championed by Hopeson Adorye). He adds “the closure of Radio…Gold was NPP’s “darkest hour” (as far as this march for democracy was concerned). Did we vote (in 2024) for “reset” or “equalization”?
Certainly, we voted for the former (reset) and not the latter (equalisation). So, you will see that Jean Mensa was appointed by Akufo-Addo, but his man, Bawumia, could not win… Going back, Charlotte Osei was appointed by Mahama, but in 2016, Akufo-Addo beat Mahama to win the Presidency.
We would repeat what Nana Annor Amihere II said in the Chronicle of Tuesday October 20, 2026 on “Are we Practicing Democracy or Kakistocracy?”… (1) A Two-Party State and the “Pull Him Down” Syndrome: Our Constitution provides for multi-party democracy.
In practice, power passes between the NDC and the NPP. Each treats the other as an enemy to be destroyed, rather than a rival to be defeated at the polls. Under this arrangement every institution becomes a prize and every appointment becomes a weapon.
The “pull-him-down” syndrome has moved beyond ordinary politics. It now poses a real danger to the stability of the state.
(2) The Electoral Commission: A Referee in Party Colours: An election is only as credible as its referee. Both parties know this. Both have tested it. During its time in office, the NPP placed on the Commission persons the NDC described as party affiliates. The NDC protested loudly. Then-candidate John Mahama went further and proposed that Article 43(2) be amended so that Parliament must approve new Commissioners.
In 2026, President Mahama swore in two new Deputy Chairpersons. One is a long-serving E. C. official. The other, Mrs. Emelia Affi Agbenyo, has been publicly described by the NPP as an open NDC campaign team member. At the swearing-in, the President said he expected no preferential treatment for himself, his party or his government. Those are good words. Yet the reform he championed in opposition has not come. The same precedent has simply changed”.
Aren’t the Politicians playing with the Electoral Commission? Vicky Bright thinks: ‘we are where we are because mistakes have been made in the past; mistakes are being made now…” Ghanaians voted for “reset”; we did not vote for ‘equalisation”. Did we hear anyone say “my mouth ibi gun”?
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