Out of 27 allegations of misconduct against her, Electoral Commission Chairperson, Mrs Charlotte Osei, has only six questions to answer, Editor in Chief of the New Crusading Guide Abdul Malik Kweku Baako Jnr has said.
The six allegations, which includes the engagement of a lawyer, Sory@Law and a contract for the partitioning of an office block formed the basis of the prima facie determination made against her.
Speaking on Peace FM’s morning show programme Kokrokoo, Wednesday, the ace journalist said even the six are problematic and may not stand the test of strict scrutiny.
The Chair of the Commission, together with her two deputies are involved in proceedings that may end up impeachments after allegations of misconduct were made against them. The first to go on the attack against Charlotte Osei were 17 unnamed workers who petitioned the president accusing her of corruption, misconduct and other impeachable offences.
They wanted the president to begin the process of impeachment under Article 146(3) of the 1992 Constitution.
The president Nana Akufo-Addo then forwarded the petition to the Chief Justice to conduct a preliminary investigation on the matter and establish a prima facie case for a possible impeachment.
Mrs Charlotte Osei had also written to the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) chronicling a number of offences said to have been committed by her two deputies, one of whom was later asked to step aside. The Chief Justice after conducting a preliminary investigation on the allegation against the EC Chairperson established a prima facie case and has since constituted a five-member Committee to probe the allegations. The Chair of the EC has since raised issues with the procedures of her possible impeachment.
She wrote two separate letters addressed to the president and the Judicial Council requesting a copy of the petition which has formed the basis for her impeachment proceedings.
She also wants the Judicial Council to furnish her with the names of the members who constitute the five-member committee set up to probe her. The possible impeachment of Mrs Charlotte Osei has been a matter of public interest with some members of the opposition National Democratic Congress throwing their support behind her.
Some have begun a social media campaign, “I stand with Charlotte Osei.” Addressing the matter on Kokrokoo, Kweku Baako Jnr insisted that the EC Chair does not need the cacophonous noises to argue her case out. He said Mrs Charlotte Osei must be left to go through due process of law as enshrined in the constitution.
He said whether the complaints have merit or not, it is immaterial. “That propaganda, scaremongering, ugly threats of street militancy and some imaginative conspiracy theories, Charlotte Osei can do without those,” he said.
He said the NDC supporters and all others are entitled to make the ugly noises but Charlotte Osei and the two deputies do not need them. He added the EC chair is focused on extricating herself from the allegations made against her.
“This kind of process. noise doesn’t help it in any way. It distracts. It pollutes. She can do without the political contamination,” he said.
