Charlotte Osei, Hot Over Togo Register, Board Appointment

Pressure group, Progressive Nationalist Forum (PNF), is calling for the head of the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission (EC), Charlotte Osei, for allegedly compromising her position. She is said to be holding another public office while serving as the electoral head of the country. There are indications that Ms Osei is still holding on to her position as a board member of Ghana Reinsurance Company Limited (Ghana Re)) in breach of the country’s Constitution. “We demand that Madam Commissioner resigns her post as a member of the board of directors of Ghana Reinsurance Company or as the Chairman of the Electoral Commission with immediate effect,” a statement issued in Accra and signed by Richard Nyamah, convenor of PNF, said. Richard Nyamah, who led the campaign for the removal of former Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) chairperson, Lauretta Vivian Lamptey, accused Ms Osei of pocketing money from the Ghana Re, which she does not deserve, asking her to refund all payments made to her since her appointment as the EC boss.

Ghana Reinsurance Company Ltd prides itself as the leading international reinsurer in the country. The EC boss’ name has been spotted in the 2016 diary of the company as a member of its board of directors. A report monitored on Asempa Fm yesterday afternoon indicated that she had resigned at the end of December. Article 44 Clause 4 of the 1992 Constitution states that “the chairman and the two deputy chairmen of the commission shall not, while they hold office on the commission, hold any other public office.”

But six months after assuming the position as EC chair, Progressive Nationalist Forum said, Ms Osei is still serving on the board of the company. “Evidence we possess show that Ms Osei, before her appointment as EC chair and since her appointment, has remained a member of the board of the company,” Mr Richard Nyamah intimated in a press release. The group has also asked that she should by January 30, 2016 pay back all allowances received as board member of Ghana Reinsurance or forfeit her salary and entitlements as Chairman of the Commission, which ever option she chooses to exercise, from 1st July, 2015 till date.

 Failure to do that, the PNF has threatened to use every legal means to ensure that the right thing is done. Ms Osei was said to have travelled within the period to Kenya for a Ghana Re-sponsored programme. Charlotte Osei was, before his appointment as EC chairperson, the boss of National Commission on Civic Education (NCCE) – another constitutional body. While serving as NCCE chairperson she was equally drawing allowances from Ghana Re, a state-owned company, the statement observed. The group has since admonished all Ghanaians, especially those holding public office, to refrain from breaking the law and shun corruption in whatever shape or form it comes in 2016 and beyond.