Seasoned Journalist Abdul Malik Kweku Baako has waded into discussions regarding the dismissal of the Electoral Commission (EC) Charlotte Osei and her two Deputies, Amadu Sulley and Georgina Opoku Amankwah by the President of the Republic.
Upon the recommendations of a Committee set up by Chief Justice, Sophia Akuffo, President Nana Akufo-Addo removed the EC Boss and her Deputies asking them to hand over to the Director for Human Resource and General Services of the EC.
Speaking on Joy FM’s “News File” on Saturday, Kweku Baako threw his weight behind the President, acknowledging that he has done nothing wrong by removing the EC Boss and her two Deputies.
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Though standing by his conviction that Madam Charlotte Osei hasn’t engaged in any misconduct, Mr. Baako however told host of the programme that in view of the legal procedures, “what President [Akufo-Addo] had to do relative to the constitution, I have no difficulty with that. I think a lot of people are trying to shift the focus of the discussion”.
“I have to be very frank with you, I was on her [Charlotte Osei] side, I’m still on her side and I did it with all my conscience and conviction, and I still stand by her, that’s important, it’s a matter of conviction, conscience and commitment to a just cause,” he stressed.
Mr. Baako believed there’s a conspiracy against Charlotte Osei, disclosing he has been keenly following the work by the Committee and the petitioners’ testimonies were sketchy.
“There was a gentleman who was a driver, Forson Ampofo, I am not a lawyer… his testimony was a complete disaster. The person who had led the petitioners and was claiming that he was doing it on the basis of personal knowledge of the allegations that he had made, when he appeared before the committee, actually showed that he had no personal knowledge of anything that had been put in their petition…“He had even claimed that he attends commission meetings and had personal knowledge but it turned out that it was nil. It is only when management had issues with labour and labour leaders are being called, and he being one of the leaders in Ashanti region, come to meetings but not the commission meetings…It was a huge disaster, so I thought it will not be entertained”, he recounted about a petitioner’s claim.
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“This whole thing was a conspiracy, that’s how it began. Among the members of the commission, four members of the commission, Paulina Adadzewa…Georgina Amankwaa and Amadu Sulley, they plotted it. But interestingly, the hole was too big, in entering they dragged Charlotte along, that’s the way I see it”, he added.