EC boss, deputies must go – Fifi Kwetey

The General Secretary of the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC), Fifi Fiavi Kwetey, says the Electoral Commission’s leadership has no justification to remain in office over the SALL disenfranchisement.

Mr Kwetey asserted during an interview on Joy News’ PM Express on Wednesday evening while responding to issues surrounding the failure to conduct parliamentary elections in the SALL constituency during the 2020 general elections.

According to him, although due process must be respected, the denial of representation to an entire constituency for four years amounts to a fundamental breach of democratic principles.

He described the situation as the gravest offence any electoral management body could commit in a democracy.

“I’m not going to jump the gun, but let the due process be followed,” he said. “For me, that’s the biggest crime that can ever be committed. Any group that supervises this clearly has no reason to remain in office.”

Mr Kwetey stressed that elections are not merely procedural exercises but the core mechanism through which citizens exercise their sovereignty.

In his view, the failure to ensure representation for SALL undermined the very foundation of democratic governance.

“That is the biggest crime you can commit in any democracy — to take away the right of being represented,” he stated. “So it’s also about whether I think it’s the right thing.”

The NDC General Secretary further argued that public opinion would overwhelmingly support calls for the removal of the EC Chairperson and her deputies if the matter were put to a national test.

“I believe that if you could commission a survey to gauge the sentiments of the people of Ghana, the vast majority will want them gone too,” he said.

The SALL constituency, located in the Oti Region, was unable to vote in the 2020 parliamentary elections due to unresolved administrative and boundary-related challenges.

As a result, residents were left without a Member of Parliament throughout the entire four-year parliamentary term, a situation that drew criticism from civil society groups, political parties, and constitutional experts.

Mr Kwetey maintained that accountability must accompany institutional independence, insisting that respect for constitutional rights should not be sacrificed under the guise of procedural explanations.

He noted that while investigations and legal processes should take their course, leadership responsibility demands consequences when citizens are deprived of representation.

In his assessment, the EC’s failure in the SALL case went beyond an administrative lapse and struck at the heart of Ghana’s democratic compact.

The Electoral Commission has previously acknowledged the challenges surrounding the SALL constituency and organised a parliamentary election there ahead of the 2024 polls.

However, critics argue that the belated action does not absolve the Commission of responsibility for the years of disenfranchisement.

Mr Kwetey’s comments adds to his colleague, the NDC Chairman, Johnson Asiedu Nketia who had called the current EC leadership “not fit for purpose”.