We will remove Affi Agbenyo from EC if NPP returns to power – Kamal-Deen

A member of the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) national communications team, Kamal-Deen Abdulai, has stated that the party will seek to remove Emelia Affi Agbenyo as a Deputy Chairperson of the Electoral Commission (EC) if it returns to power.

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

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

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

Government Communications Minister Felix Kwakye Ofosu defended the appointments, arguing that the government sought to address the political imbalance in the Commission, which he said had resulted from appointments made under the previous NPP administration.

Reacting to the statement, Kamal-Deen said the NPP would use the same political-balancing argument advanced by the government to justify its position, insisting that the appointment risks deepening partisanship within the electoral management body.

“If Kwakye Ofosu’s party says that we are balancing, we are sending an NDC person to balance it, then we also come and remove you and bring an NPP person to balance. That’s the argument. Simple,” he said on Metro TV's Good Morning Ghana show on Thursday, October 15.

Kamal-Deen further urged the NPP to strengthen its structures at polling stations ahead of the 2028 general election, saying the party should focus on grassroots mobilisation.