NDC’s Affi Agbenyo appointment seeks to balance EC’s partisan composition – Hamza Suhuyini

A member of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) communication team, Hamza Suhuyini, has defended the appointment of Emelia Affi Agbenyo as a Deputy Chairperson of the Electoral Commission (EC).

President John Dramani Mahama swore in Ms Agbenyo and Dr Joseph Kwaku Asamoah as Deputy Chairpersons of the EC on Monday, October 12.

The appointments followed the resignation of Dr Bossman Asare and the retirement of Samuel Tettey.

However, the appointments have attracted criticism from the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), which alleges that Ms Agbenyo was actively involved in the NDC’s politics and played a role in the party’s 2024 election campaign.

Speaking on Channel One TV’s Breakfast Daily programme on Wednesday, October 14, Mr Suhuyini acknowledged Ms Agbenyo’s association with the NDC but argued that her appointment was a response to what he considered the partisan influence introduced into the commission under the previous NPP administration.

“She is not a card-bearing member of the NDC, true, but she has been an associate when it comes to the politics of the NDC, and we will not run away from that,” he said.

The NDC communicator argued that the NPP had appointed people with alleged political affiliations to the EC under former President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, despite objections from the NDC at the time.

He stated that the current government could not simply remove the existing commissioners and should instead seek to balance the perceived partisan influence within the commission.

“The only reasonable thing to do is to neutralise that partisan effect that was introduced by Nana Addo and the NPP,” he said.