I didn’t vote during 2020 polls; I was at the beach – Charlotte Osei

Former Chairperson of the Electoral Commission, Charlotte Osei, says she did not participate in the 2020 general elections.

Ms. Osei says she was cooling off at the beach when Ghanaians went to the polls to vote on December 7, 2020.

“[I was] At the beach. I did not vote, I did not monitor the elections, why should I” she asked.

In responding to the journalist who said he monitored the election, she said, “That’s  your job. You were paid to monitor. I was not paid to monitor the elections, so I can’t I have time with my children at the beach?” She quizzed amidst giggling on Joy FM on Wednesday.

When pushed further, the one-time chairperosn of the National Commission on Civic Education, NCCE, a state agency that sensitises citizens on their rights and responsibilities, said as a private individual, she has the right to do whatever she wants as long as it is within the laws of Ghana.

President Akufo-Addo in June 2018, removed Charlotte Osei and her two deputies, Amadu Sulley and Georgina Opoku Amankwaa from office.

This was after a committee set up by the then Chief Justice, Justice Sophia Akuffo to investigate separate complaints brought against the three persons by Ghanaian citizens, recommended their removal from office.

The Committee recommended their removal on the basis of stated misbehaviour and incompetence, pursuant to Article 146 (1) of the Constitution.

The committee established that Charlotte Osei breached procurement laws in the award of several contracts in her three-year period, prior to the 2016 elections.

Excerpts of the Committee’s report said it investigated six separate allegations of various procurement breaches, for which a prima facie case was established against Madam Charlotte Osei.

“All the six allegations levelled against Madam Charlotte Osei for which a prima facie case was established by the Honourable Chief Justice, relates to breaches of the Public Procurement Act, Act 663, as amended by the Public Procurement (Amendment) Act, Act 914” the committee’s report stated.

Her two deputy Commissioners were also accused of procurement breaches and financial malfeasance.

The removal, which was the first time in the history of the Electoral Commission, sharply divided opinions in Ghana.