Private legal practitioner Martin Kpebu has criticised the appointment of Emelia Afi Agbenyo as a Deputy Chairperson of the Electoral Commission (EC), saying the decision is taking the country backwards.
Mr Kpebu made the remarks on Saturday, October 17, 2026, during an appearance on TV3’s The Keypoints.
“This is a strong race to the bottom,” he stated.
“This appointment doesn’t look like JM,” he later indicated.
For him, Ghanaians will be going to the polls to make a decision but in between each elections, “let’s make a lot noise so that it will get to the President that this appointment is unlike him”.
“This one is a reset in reverse. It is not sustainable. That is not a legacy,” he stressed.
Addressing President John Dramani Mahama directly, he added: “JM, don’t do this. This is running the country in reverse. You won the last elections by about 1.7 million votes, so why are you getting jittery?”
His comments add to the debate over the independence of the EC, which began after the President swore in Ms Agbenyo and Dr Joseph Kwaku Asamoah as Deputy Chairpersons on Monday, October 12.
The appointments followed the resignation of Dr Bossman Asare and the retirement of Samuel Tettey.
The opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) has called on the President to withdraw the appointment, citing videos it says show Ms Agbenyo campaigning with and for the NDC at rallies.
The party also recalled that Mr Mahama, in March 2023, called for Article 43(2) of the Constitution to be amended to require parliamentary approval for such appointments.
Government officials have defended the appointment.
Presidential Staffer Beatrice Annan said Ms Agbenyo has never been a card-bearing NDC member and that her participation in campaigns should not automatically be read as partisan allegiance.
Education Minister Haruna Iddrisu said the appointment was consistent with the 1992 Constitution, though he acknowledged that people are entitled to question it politically.
Government spokesperson Felix Kwakye Ofosu went further on Joy FM’s Top Story on Tuesday, October 13, admitting that the NDC wanted to “tilt the balance” in the composition of the Commission with the appointment.
Asked whether that meant appointing an NDC member, he answered “Yes”.
Ms Agbenyo previously served as Deputy Director for Operations at the Ghana TVET Service and as a Commissioner at the National Development Planning Commission.
Under Article 44 of the Constitution, the EC’s deputy chairpersons may not hold any other public office while serving on the Commission.