An insurance marketer believes Members of Parliament wasted the time, energy and resources of the state on Wednesday with the grilling of the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission (EC), Charlotte Osei.
Mr. Edgar Wiredu said “what they did was unnecessary. They should have used that time to revoke the Article 298 of the constitutions because there is a constitutional crisis in the country”.
Article 298 of the 1992 Constitution talks about the ability of legislators to use an Act of Parliament to deal with constitutional matters subject to Chapter 25 of the constitution.
“Instead of inviting the EC boss to come and answer questions on an account that has not been audited, they could have used the time to invoke the Article 298 of the Constitution which is in crisis”.
The social analyst made these ascensions while contributing to a discussion on the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission, Charlotte Osei who was invited to Parliament to answer why internally generated funds, particularly, funds generated from accreditation fees charged journalists in the 2016 elections were not included in the 2017 budget statement and financial report for 2017 on TV3’s New Day on Thursday hosted by Bright Nana Amfoh.
“If allegations have been made against all these people and yet they are in the office and you are investigating the other, what about the two deputies”, Mr. Wiredu asked.
He said “they are malfeasance going on because there are allegations against all these three and you don’t see that as a problem?”
Meanwhile, the Member of Parliament for Damango Constituency in the Northern Region, Mutawakilu Adam, said “if you [NPP] turn today to say she [EC Boss] is too incompetent to manage the place [EC], then we need to relook at the issue”.
He said “the impeachment of the EC boss will have a lot of implications on Ghana because she declared the elections and in six months down the lane she is incompetent, it is serious”.
For the former Member of Parliament for Bantama Constituency in the Ashanti Region, Henry Kwabena Kokofu, said “we [NPP] have nothing more saying than to allow the process to go on. The President has forwarded the issue to the CJ and the due process must be followed”.
“The president has passed on the baton to the CJ and we need to be patience and wait for the CJ. We will want to remain calm”, the former NPP MP added.
By Kweku Antwi-Otoo|Onua 95.1FM|3news.com|Ghana