The woes of dismissed Chairperson of the Electoral Commission, Charlotte Osei, may get worse soon following a threat by her petitioners to petition the Special Prosecutor to take up other cases of possible fraud against her.
The petitioners are the same individuals whose earlier complaint led to the removal of Charlotte Osei from office.
They said they are ready to hand over more evidence of alleged dubious dealings by Charlotte Osei to the Special Prosecutor for further investigations and possible prosecution.
[contextly_sidebar id=”sltGkvpDt5wr2Z1K1YNwpDtU9tuGhuzW”]Addressing the press today, Monday, one of the petitioners, Rabiu Sulemana, said they decided to get the Special Prosecutor involved because Charlotte’s alleged offenses are grounds for prosecution.
“…All the grounds for which she has been found liable are also grounds for which she can be prosecuted. We are making preparations to submit these complaints to the office of the special prosecutor for investigation and possible prosecution of Charlotte Osei,” he said.
Charlotte Osei and two of her deputies were removed from office about two weeks ago by President Nana Akufo-Addo over allegations of procurement breaches and in some cases financial malfeasance.
The President took the decision after a committee set up by the Chief Justice to investigate a petition against the top EC officials made the recommendations in its report.
Although the opposition National Democratic Congress (NPP), the party under whose tenure Charlotte was appointed have resisted her removal from office, government officials said the President only approved the committee’s recommendation as mandated by law.
Sulemana said they are willing to cooperate with the special prosecutor to have Charlotte Osei punished by the law.
“We are also prepared to submit to the special prosecutor complaints and evidence of her dealings with other companies and individuals which we think amount to abuse of office, breach of trust and conflict of interest. In line with this, we wish to state that we shall use all legal means available to us to ensure that her removal is permanent and cast in stone,” he added.
Suit against Charlotte Osei’s removal
A Ghanaian, Fafali Nyonator, earlier in July 2018 sued the Attorney General over the removal of Charlotte Osei from office.
In the suit, Fafali asked the court to declare that the committee set up by the Chief Justice, Justice Sophia Akuffo, to investigate separate complaints brought against the three commissioners at the Electoral Commission, exceeded its powers by making such recommendations.
She also asked the court to declare the committee’s report as null and void.
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By: Godwin Akweiteh Allotey/citinewsroom.com/Ghana
Follow @AlloteyGodwin