Renowned activist, Mawuse Oliver Barker-Vormawor, known for his pivotal role as the Lead Convenor of the Fix the Country Movement, has expressed deep disappointment over the apparent inaction by the Chief Justice regarding his petition aimed at removing Madam Jean Mensa, the Chairperson, and other commissioners of the Electoral Commission of Ghana(EC).
The Lead Convenor for the Fix the Country and Occupy Jubilee House protests in a statement decried over what he describes as the alarming rate of lack of transparency and accountability within Ghana’s democratic institutions.
In his statement, Barker-Vormawor recounted the exhaustive effort he invested in the petition process, however, state institutions required to act on it failed to do so.
“The petition we filed against the EC Chair and Commissioners was 90 pages long. 90 pages. I sat down and drafted 90 pages of petition and compiled appendixes. The CJ wrote back that someone at the Presidency had taken out several pages from the petition”.
Mawuse Oliver Barker-Vormawor
Mr Barker-Vormawor further emphasized that even though he and his team rewrote the petition and sent it back to the Chief Justice, the Chief Justice at the time failed to act on it.
He bemoaned the failure on the part of state institutions responsible to ensure that his petition could yield the necessary scrutiny or action against the Chairperson and other Commissioners of the Electoral Commission.
Highlighting his commitment for transparency, accountability, justice and democratic integrity, Mr Barker-Vormawor decried over what he perceives as the connivance of critical constitutional actors to protect the Electoral Commission’s Chairperson and her commissioners from accountability.
Media Silence Cast Shadow Over Ghana’s Democracy
Furthermore, the former Researcher to the Constitution Review Commission and Law Clerk to the President of the International Court of Justice criticized the Ghanaian media for its failure to demand accountability regarding the situation.
He expressed disappointment over the failure of the Ghanaian media to conduct full extensive exposée into what happened, underscoring a significant lapse in investigative journalism in the country.
He attributed the situation to a broader issue within the media landscape, where he noted reporting is largely dependent on “government-issued press statements”, emphasizing that the entire media reporting approach is to wait for government agencies to release press statements so that it makes news out of it.
Mr Barker-Vormowor, while lamenting over the situation asserted that the failure by state institutions to act on his petition coupled with failure by the media to conduct extensive exposee on the vexed matter may go a long way to discourage citizens active engagement in the country’s democratic processes.
“The reason why next time, another Ghanaian will not sit down and write 90 pages is that, he or she will realize you are not worth it,” Barker-Vormawor asserted, citing what he describes as a disillusionment that could deter future civic activism.
Mr Barker-Vormawor, in concluding his remarks, vehemently criticised Ghana’s democratic system, emphasizing that the country’s governance system has failed to produce a desired result.
He called for a reevaluation of the structures and practices that undermine accountability and transparency in the country, that he argued are very cardinal elements of every democratic governance system.
His call for more rigorous scrutiny and active engagement by both constitutional actors comes following President Akufo-Addo’s decision to expeditiously forward a petition seeking the removal of the current Special Prosecutor, Kissi Agyebeng.
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