When the plot to remove Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo was being hatched many saw a similar fate awaiting the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission (EC)…they were not wrong. The second leg of the plot has begun.
As we compose this commentary an interdicted staff of the Commission is said to have been incorporated into the plot to remove Ms Jean Mensa from office. The petitioner is relying on the usual flimsy misconduct to have the EC Chairperson and her two deputies removed from office.
What better person to pick to submit such a petition than one on interdiction. He would scoop such an opportunity for a revenge.
We are still reeling from the fallouts of the removal from office of Justice Gertrude Torkornoo by the President and the many matters arising therefrom.
Is this what the resetting agenda of the NDC is all about? Democracy cannot be enhanced when we engage in vindictiveness against holders of public office because they assumed their roles under previous political administrations.
With the judiciary and the EC being subjected to such arbitrary treatment by the executive is the constitutional protection these institutions should enjoy to perform to the enhancement of democracy not being eroded at a cruising speed?
The no-love-lost relationship between the leadership of the NDC and the EC Chairperson and her deputies is household knowledge on the political sphere…such disguised manouvres are unsurprising.
Occasional tongue slips by the leadership of the NDC prior to the party’s assumption of office pointed at its obsession with removing Ms Jean Mensa from office should the power pendulum swing their way. When the plot against the Chief Justice commenced observers noted that the journey towards the removal of the EC Chairperson and her deputies had begun subtly.
With the judiciary properly reset as per the wish of the President and his government the petition from the disgruntled staff of the EC has paved the way for the President to deal another blow to democracy.
When the EC Chairperson fumbled over the Ablekuma North constituency rerun many saw the lady falling into a trap set by an NDC eager to see her back.
We are saddened by this development and wonder why the President does not envisage the constitutional and moral shortcomings of his reset agenda as it affects the institutions of state.
The implications of the removal of the EC Chairperson and her deputies should it come on following in the heels of the Chief Justice are varied and reduce our standing in the global democracy ranking.
Of course nobody questions our sovereignty as a country but when we present ourselves as a democracy we are expected to conduct ourselves as such in the comity of countries in that bracket.
What do we profit from vindictiveness when indeed there is a timeline to our stewardship as holders of political power in an ephemeral world where these days, time flies so fast that soon it is time to leave the stage whether we are ready or not?
Such precedents do not inure to our democracy…they only prepare the grounds for us to move in a merry-go-round. We only pray that the next crop of politicians at the helm would break this circle of vindictiveness otherwise referred to as ‘resetting.’
