Resetting Or Repeating? President Mahama's Ec Appointment Raises Eyebrows

Dear President Mahama,
I write this piece with deep disappointment, considering what you promised Ghanaians and what you are now delivering.

In fact, you promised a reset. That was the central theme of your campaign — a promise that chastised and spoke strongly against what happened under the previous regime.

For clarity, you told Ghanaians that you would do things differently, that you would restore integrity to our governance institutions and rise above partisanship.

As a presidential candidate for the NDC, you vehemently spoke against some appointments made by former President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.

Fast forward, you were particularly critical of his appointment of Dr. Bossman Asare and Dr. Peter Apiahene as governing board member of the Electoral Commission. At the time, you argued, and rightly so in the eyes of many, that such appointments compromised the independence of a critical state institution.

Yesterday, you made similar appointments.
Indeed, Madam Emelia Affi Agbenyo, a known and active member of the NDC, has been appointed as Deputy Chairperson of the Electoral Commission. Her political identity is not hidden; it is public knowledge.

As a concerned citizen, I am highly disappointed and disoriented by this appointment. How can we build confidence in an independent body when its leadership is drawn from the ranks of a ruling party?

Undoubtedly, this appointment exposes a serious contradiction in your much-touted reset agenda. You are repeating the very thing you chastised. If what President Akufo-Addo did was wrong then, what makes it right now that you are in power?

The so-called reset appears to lack principle and direction. It appears to be a mere change of persons, not a change in practice.

In conclusion, If we are truly resetting Ghana, then we must reset our values as well. Independence of state institutions must mean independence in deed, not just in name.