The recent disqualification of Joan Gyan Cudjoe, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) parliamentary candidate for the Amenfi Central Constituency, by the Jean Mensah-led Electoral Commission (EC), has sparked widespread outrage.
Leading members of the NDC, constitutional and civil society activists, including Professor Stephen Kweku Asare, a Democracy and Development Fellow at the Ghana Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana), have criticised the move, labelling it as unjustifiable.
The incident has raised questions about the Electoral Commission’s conduct and transparency, once again placing the EC at the centre of controversy.
Public discourse has centred on the conduct of the EC, with many questioning why the Commission appears to be perpetuating what some have described as “pre-emptive crude tactics” against the opposition NDC.
Alfred Ogbamey, a seasoned member of the NDC and former Director of Communication for Ghana Gas Company, in a sharp critique, raised serious concerns about the EC’s decision-making process, particularly in this case.
In his critique, Alfred Ogbamey questioned why Madam Jean Mensah and her team at the EC would disqualify Joan Gyan Cudjoe despite the prevailing facts not supporting such a decision.
He expressed frustration at what he sees as a recurring pattern of the EC courting scandalous reviews and undermining its own credibility by rushing through decisions without due diligence, particularly when it comes to matters involving the NDC.
“The PC won the right to first represent the NDC last year (2023) only for a restraining order or Injunction to be placed on her from holding herself as the duly-elected PC until the final determination of a matter brought before the court in May 2024 thereabout.
“That order compelled the NDC to cancel the election that won her victory and subsequently hold fresh elections in replacement of the disputed poll, which she again won. Her second victory was in an election supervised by the district office of the same Jean Mensah-led EC”.
Alfred Ogbamey, a member of the National Democratic Congress
Alfred Ogbamey noted that despite the resolution of the legal challenge and Joan Gyan Cudjoe’s reaffirmed victory, the EC’s Deputy Chairman for Operations, Samuel Tettey, issued a notice of disqualification on October 10, 2024.
He stated that the EC cited the now-moot May 2024 injunction as the basis for the disqualification, seemingly ignoring the fact that the legal matters surrounding her candidacy had long been resolved.
A Rushed and Reckless Decision
What has fueled the outrage is the revelation of contradictory actions by the EC. Alfred Ogbamey argued that in a letter dated October 16, 2024—six days after Joan Gyan Cudjoe’s disqualification—the EC, through Samuel Tettey, requested information from the Sekondi High Court on the status of the very injunction it had used to disqualify her.
He emphasized that the said letter suggests that the EC disqualified Joan Gyan Cudjoe on October 10 without fully confirming whether the injunction was still valid.
Alfred Ogbamey, found this development baffling and unacceptable, asking “How did the EC disqualify someone on an injunction it wasn’t sure existed?”
The EC’s disqualification, he argued, was based on an assumption that had yet to be verified—a decision that lacked legal grounding and demonstrated poor judgment.
He argued that the EC’s subsequent actions of seeking court confirmation after the disqualification further exposed the rushed nature of the decision, leaving him to wonder why such a significant move was made in haste.
Serious Credibility Concerns for the EC
Alfred Ogbamey’s critique did not stop there. He raised four key questions that highlight the severity of the situation.
“How did the EC disqualify someone on an injunction it wasn’t sure existed? If the EC and Samuel Tettey wanted to conduct a search at the Sekondi Court on the Injunction Application on the 16th day of October to inform a genuine decision on the PC, why did it disqualify the same person six days prior to the search that needed to inform its decision?
“Given that the EC itself was unsure of the existence of an injunction against the PC according to their own search queries dated today, what was its basis for the prior disqualification of her on the 10th day of October? Why do these officers keep committing basic, baseless blunders which open the credibility of the EC to serious attacks?”
Alfred Ogbamey, a member of the National Democratic Congress
These questions point to a broader concern about the integrity of the EC under Madam Jean Mensah’s leadership.
According to Alfred Ogbamey, the EC’s disqualification of Joan Cudjoe is just the latest in a series of missteps by the Commission that have left many questioning whether the EC is acting in good faith, especially toward the opposition NDC.
A Systemic Problem or an Isolated Blunder?
Additionally, Alfred Ogbamey, the former Director of Communication for Ghana Gas Company cast doubt on the competence of some of the key figures within the EC, particularly Samuel Tettey, the Deputy Director of Operation of the EC.
“Is it that Samuel Tettey, the same man who indirectly claimed responsibility for having frogs and trees on the 2016 Electoral Register, is simply clueless at his task?” Alfred Ogbamey mused, suggesting that Mr Tettey might be either incompetent or a scapegoat for a larger agenda.
With Ghana’s crucial December 2024 elections approaching, incidents like this disqualification are stoking fears of potential electoral manipulation and bias.
The EC’s handling of Joan Gyan Cudjoe’s case raises alarm bells not only within the NDC but also among civil society actors who are concerned about the fairness and transparency of the electoral process.
As Alfred Ogbamey noted, time will tell whether the EC can redeem itself or whether this latest controversy is part of a larger pattern that will culminate in a crisis of confidence during the upcoming elections.
Either way, the disqualification of Joan Gyan Cudjoe, and the circumstances surrounding is likely to further erode trust in the Electoral Commission, with serious implications for Ghana’s democratic process.
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