Open Letter To Charlotte

Welcome to the hot seat. Yours is one of the most demanding positions in the country. Upon your shoulders rests an inordinately stressful assignment, the mishandling of which can spell doom for the country you call your motherland.

In spite of questions raised about the impropriety of your appointment as Chairperson of the Electoral Commission (EC) by governance experts and academics strewn across the humanities, we nonetheless think you have the opportunity to prove your mettle as a successful Chairperson of the EC, if you want to.

Your failure in this position will trigger an irrecoverable loss of your face and academic dignity, the long list of your paper qualifications notwithstanding.

The EC is suffering from an image ailment which requires critical attention by somebody who would not brook interference from people seeking reciprocal favour from you because you owe your appointment to them.

In its current state, the EC, we are afraid, cannot prosecute any credible elections unless it is subjected to a detailed cleansing.

An information technology-enabled verification system makes it foolhardy to seek to alter the arithmetic results of figures at polling stations. Dr Afari-Gyan learnt that lesson when it was too late in his tenure, for which he suffered an unenviable humiliation.

The EC, as you perhaps better know, has been enmeshed in a litany of controversies culminating in the high-notched Supreme Court Election Petition hearing – the first of its kind in local political and judicial history.

With Ghanaians no longer interested in turning to the courts in cases of election disputes following their lost confidence in the ability of the judiciary to deal decisively with such subjects, the supremacy of the polling stations in determining victory or otherwise as voters have come to learn, makes your work even more arduous and demanding.

The shortcomings unearthed in the proceedings and the recommendations thereof blemished your predecessor's stewardship. The interpretation of over-voting and the happenings at the Finger of God voting centre and many others breached internationally acclaimed good practices.

From the mess Dr Kwadwo Afari-Gyan pushed himself into abound lessons for your adoption, if you care.

Not performing to the expectation of Ghanaians is not an option and so you better look sharp and show commitment to sincerity and the good cause of Ghana, no matter whose ox is gored.

You have the rare opportunity of reversing the image of the country's elections management organisation—change it needs badly to regain its lost glory and stature.

Tributes might have been paid your predecessor during his exit. These were largely anything but diplomacy carried too far. They are eulogies which can be likened to the goodness reserved for the deceased. You have little to learn from Dr Kwadwo Afari-Gyan who epitomises obscene arrogance.

Your assignment has especially been carved out for you: restore the credibility of the EC by establishing mutual respect between the commission and its publics, which are mainly the political parties.

The voter register has been adequately discredited as evidenced by the many examples of anomalies contained in it. Indeed, the largest opposition party – the New Patriotic Party (NPP) – and others, encouraged by one of the recommendations of the Supreme Court for electoral reforms, have asked for the cleaning of the current contaminated register of voters—a genuine demand you must address as a matter of urgency.

The independence of the EC notwithstanding, the commission cannot ignore the wishes of the electorate to which it is answerable.

You will enjoy your tenure if you make sincerity and the fear of God the cornerstone of your work.