The allegations made by National Democratic Congress (NDC) flagbearer John Dramani Mahama concerning the selection of Returning Officers for the 2024 elections have been categorically denied by the Electoral Commission (EC).
Mr. Mahama recently charged that the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government was selecting its own members to the EC in an interview at the London School of Economics and Political Science.
In addition, he expressed doubts about the integrity of the EC in light of allegations made by the election management body that MPs and DCEs were asked to reveal the names of NPP members when they were hiring Returning Officers and their deputies.
In a statement dated April 25, Fred Tetteh, the Deputy Director of Research, Monitoring, and Evaluation, refuted these allegations. He chastised Mahama for denouncing a tactic he had used while in office.
In response to Mahama’s claims, the EC further explained that the hiring procedure for Returning Officers and their Deputies was carried out in a fair and open manner.
“Per the attached public announcement, the Commission invited ALL interested Ghanaians to apply for the positions of Returning Officers and Deputy Returning Officers. The allegation by former President Mahama that Ministers and DCEs were asked “to write the names of party apparatchiks and present them so that they would be appointed as the returning officers” IS NOT TRUE.
“The Commission rejects this unfounded allegation coming from the former President. The process of recruiting Returning Officers and their Deputies was conducted in an open, fair and transparent manner. Following the publication of the vacancy announcement in the Daily Graphic on the 5th of February 2024, the Commission received a total of 20,561 applications.
“An in-house Committee was established to shortlist suitable applicants to be interviewed. For the information of the general public, all successful applicants at the interview have no less than 8 years of working experience with the Commission as Temporal Election Officials.”
