It was predicted, and it has begun. Supporters and leadership of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) has started the assault on the Electoral Commissioner, Jean Mensah, and her two deputies. They are about to repeat the misguided mistake of Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo by getting rid of Charlotte Osei eight years ago.
The writing was always on the wall. With the Chief Justice Gertrude Araaba Torkornoo virtually cooked (and just about ready for service at the table) the NDC is turning its attention to Jean Mensah.
The flagrant disrespect for the 1992 Constitution and constitutionality that is taking place in our country today is simply frightful. They constitute the slow but steady steps towards total lack of constitutionality. And it is with the tacit support of all the institutions that are supposed to protect the constitution and ensure that it remains durable and sustainable.
Within months of assuming office, it became clear that President John Dramani Mahama was on an agenda to get rid of certain individuals in key constitutional positions to replace them with those he believes will be amenable to his agenda.
Key among these individuals, was the Chief Justice. With virtually unlimited funds, he managed to cobble together a few petitions and has constituted a kangaroo court in the form of a committee under Article 146. So far, what we are hearing suggests clearly that the outcome of the process taking place at the Castle, Osu, is a done deal.
I will be the most surprised, if that kangaroo court is able to come out with any outcome than what has been foretold, which is that it will come out with the decision that the Chief Justice has been found liable and therefore should be stripped off her post.
After that, will come the Electoral Commissioner and her two deputies. John Mahama is hell-bent on replacing them, first, to punish them for the ‘robbery’ he believes was orchestrated against him in 2020, and secondly, so that he can secure a pliable Commission that would do his bidding, if he were to go after that third term he is reputed to be seeking.
The talk about the unresolved parliamentary election in Ablekuma North (which unresolved situation can largely be blamed on the NDC and NPP) and the disenfranchisement of the SALL constituency are just convenient excuses to give a dog a bad name, and hang it.
It is that transparent.
The worry, though, is that the framers of the 1992 Constitution did their best to insulate positions like that of the Chief Justice and the Electoral Commissioner from interference, particularly from people who are elected, like the President. This insulation is a necessity for democratic development. They were not inserted into the 1992 Constitution because of their beauty or how nice they sound, but because they are necessary for the democracy and to protect all of us.
John Mahama is putting the democracy in danger, for his strictly personal ambition, so that he can ensure the wealth of himself and his family for generations to come.
These are developments we all have a responsibility to resist.
