Flagbearer of the opposition National Democratic Congress, John Mahama is questioning the need for the 21-member Eminent Advisory Committee, when the Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) is already available to the EC.
The former president, was speaking at a stakeholders’ engagement with members of the Christian Council, when he also raised concerned about the membership of the committee.
According to him, representatives of the Christian Council being on such a committee was not advisable.
The political parties, according to the NDC leader, go to the Christian Council to settle issues between them when the political atmosphere becomes charged.
It was therefore not strategic for its members to be advising the EC on its actions at a time when the EC is making some introductions into the system which he says “could be the subject of disagreement.”
He believes members of the Christian Council should not be part of these decisions so when disagreements about them come before the Council, they can be neutral in the hearings.
A lot of other issues are of concern to the opposition leader which he says he will bring up later.
Recall that the Electoral Commission (EC) launched a 21-member Eminent Advisory Committee on 3rd December, this year, to enhance engagement and interactions between it and the public as Ghana prepares for the 2020 general elections.
The committee, chaired by a former Commissioner of the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), Justice Emile Short, is part of the EC’s new approach of maintaining an open door that invites and responds to the concerns and interests of the citizenry.
The committee, has a former President of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA), Mrs Gifty Affenyi-Dadzie as the deputy chairperson.
The other members are: Most Rev. Prof. Emmanuel Asante, Chairman of the National Peace Council; Sheikh Osman Nuhu Sharubutu, National Chief Imam; Maulvi Mohammed Bin Salih, Ameer of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community; Rt. Rev Paul Kwabena Boafo, Presiding Bishop of the Methodist Church, Ghana; Nana Ato Dadzie, a former Chief of Staff and Archbishop Nicholas Duncan-Williams, President of the National Charismatic Christian Churches.
The others are: Rev Dr Cyril G.K. Fayose, General Secretary of the Christian Council of Ghana; Mr Tony Forson, President of the Ghana Bar Association; Rev. Dr. Paul Frimpong-Manso, Head of the Pentecostal Council; Most Rev. Prof. Emmanuel Martey, a former Moderator of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana; Dr. Rose Mensah-Kutin, a Gender Advocate and Mr Roland Affail Monney, President of the GJA.
The rest are Nana Kobina Nketia V, Omanhene of the Essikado Traditional Area; Eric Oduro Osae, Advocate for decentralisation and democratic development in Ghana, Rev. Ekua Buabema Ofori-Boateng, Managing Director of ILF Consulting Engineers; Mr Sam Okudzeto, a Member of the Council of State; Rev. Dr. Kwabena Opuni-Frimpong, a former General Secretary of the Christian Council of Ghana and Dr. Yaw Baah, General Secretary of the Trades Union Congress.
