The Majority Leader and Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, has explained why the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission of Ghana (EC), Jean Mensa, did not appear before the House last week Thursday, 23rd February, 2023, for a discussion on the new Constitutional Instrument (C.I), for the 2024 elections.
Speaking in an interview on Tuesday, February 28, 2023, Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, refuted assertions by the Minority Caucus of Parliament, that Jean Mensa intentionally refused to appear before Parliament.
According to him, three agencies; thus, the National Identification Authority (NIA), the Electoral Commission of Ghana (EC), and the Ministry of Finance, were sent letters to appear before the Parliamentary House, and the letters did not specify that the heads of these institutions should be the ones to appear.
He added that, as the leader of government business in Parliament, he was already aware that the Electoral Commission (EC) Chairperson had already traveled to Nigeria, to lead commissioners in the sub-region, to supervise the Nigerian elections.
He continued that the three agencies; the Electoral Commission, the National Identification Authority, and the Ministry of Finance, were sent letters to appear before the Parliament, but nowhere in those letters was it stated that Kenneth Agyemang Attafuah, Jean Mensa, or Ken Ofori-Atta, should be the ones to appear before the House as representatives.
“But the NIA boss, Ken Attafuah, led the NIA team to Parliament, Abena Osei Asare also led the Finance Ministry to the House and was later joined by Ken Ofori-Atta; but the Electoral Commissioner herself, was not around, so one of her deputies was here.
“The woman (Jean Mensa), left Ghana for Nigeria on Wednesday. So, she was not even in Ghana when the letter was sent to the commission, and also the letter did not in any way specify that Jean Mensa should be the one to appear before the House.”
Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu
He added that suggestions by some members of the Minority Caucus that the commissioner was in Ghana, were not true and that it was all a sham to propagate lies. Parliament on Thursday, sacked officials of the Electoral Commission and the National Identification Authority over the absence of EC chairperson Jean Mensa.
Officials of the EC and the NIA had been summoned to brief Members of Parliament, on a new Constitutional Instrument (CI), seeking to make the Ghana card the only proof of nationality for voter registration. The Cl is also seeking to scrap the guarantor system and limit continuous registration to district offices of the EC.
The Speaker of Parliament, Alban S.K. Bagbin, had directed that the Chairperson herself, Jean Mensa, appeared for the briefing and represented at the highest level at the next meeting of the committee with officials of the commission and the National Identification Authority (NIA).
Jean Mensah And Other Agencies To Appear In Parliament Today
The leading figures of the Electoral Commission of Ghana (EC), the National Identification Authority (NIA) and the Ministry of Finance are meant to report to Parliament today, together with their various teams to delegate on matters at hand.
The house, through the Members of Parliament, have prepared questions for the various agencies that are meant to be answered, by the heads of the EC, NIA and Ministry of Finance, to put all misunderstanding at ease. Officials from the Ghana Health Service, the Vaccine Control Programme, the National Health Insurance Authority, and the Global Fund are also expected to be present.
Due to the absence of the EC last week, the meeting with the aforementioned agencies will continue today in order to get answers to some bothersome questions.
READ ALSO: Health Minister, others to be in Parliament today over vaccine shortage
