A suggestion by the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission that she was speaking for herself and not the entire Commission in an answer to a question by a Majority Leader of Parliament has sent tongues wagging.
A member of the Majority in Parliament Eugene Antwi has described the comments and conduct of Mrs Charlotte Osei as a “sad day for our democracy” but a member of the NDC and MP for Adaklo insists the criticisms against the EC chair are misplaced.
Mrs Charlotte Osei was invited to Parliament as the chair of the EC to answer why internally generated funds, particularly, funds generated from accreditation fees charged journalists in the 2016 elections were not included in the 2017 budget statement and financial report for 2017.
She told Parliament the IGF was not added because it was an “oversight.”
Not impressed with the oversight comment, the Majority Leader Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu probed further from the EC boss to find out when exactly she realised the IGF had been omitted.
According to her, she only got to know about the omission when she was invited by Parliament in March to come and answer why the IGF was not included in the budget for 2017.
She said it was when she checked the EC accounts that she found the omission.
“Otherwise you were not going to discover [that the IGF has been omitted],” Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu queried further, forcing Mrs Osei to say “Mr chairman I am not the entire commission. There are other people who work on these things. I am speaking for myself as chair.”
Her answer with triggered a sudden outburst from MPs.
I am not the entire commission; I am speaking for myself- EC chair tells Parliament
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