Economic policy analyst Senyo Hosi has urged Ghana’s President John Mahama to use caution in making political appointments, warning that controversial decisions could damage the goodwill granted to him by voters in the 2024 election.
“Don’t waste the political capital that Ghanaians have graced you with,” Mr Hosi said on TV3’s The KeyPoints on October 17.
He was commenting on the appointment of Emelia Affi Agbenyo, a known associate of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), as Deputy Chairperson of the Electoral Commission (EC) of Ghana.
Mr Hosi said the decision risked undermining progress made by the Mahama administration and did not guarantee the commission’s independence.
“We voted for a reset, not equalisation or tilting. The government has failed on this; your work is hard,” he said.
“This decision is one of the biggest disappointments of the NDC administration,” he added.
Governance expert Professor Baffour Agyemang Duah also criticised the appointment of a politically exposed person, although he said Ms Agbenyo could not determine the result of an election on her own.
“This appointee is not going to make any difference in terms of who wins the elections,” he said on TV3’s The KeyPoints on Saturday, October 17.
“Can she on her own manipulate the process? I don’t think so, but as we try to raise the bar, there is a high expectation that those who are appointed to this commission are not known for their party affiliations.”
Lawyer Martin Kpebu said Ms Agbenyo’s appointment would weaken the independence of the EC and backed calls by the Coalition of Domestic Election Observers (CODEO) for her to resign.
“The appointment of Emelia Agbenyo looks like a fairy tale to me. This appointment doesn’t make sense to me at all because we complained the same when Akufo-Addo made similar appointments. The appointment of Emelia Agbenyo will weaken the independence of the Electoral Commission,” he said.
“I support the call by CODEO for Emelia Agbenyo to resign from her position due to her affiliation to the NDC.”
President John Dramani Mahama swore in Ms Agbenyo and Joseph Kwaku Asamoah as the EC’s two new Deputy Chairpersons on October 12, 2026. He instructed them to carry out their constitutional responsibilities independently, firmly and impartially.
The President said neither he nor his administration should receive preferential treatment from the electoral body, and told the commissioners to apply the law and national interest equally to all political parties and candidates.
In a statement, CODEO said its objection was not based on Ms Agbenyo’s professional qualifications or technical ability. Instead, it said her known political involvement could affect public confidence in the EC’s neutrality and credibility.
CODEO said the NDC had publicly listed Ms Agbenyo among its sectoral spokespersons for the 2024 election manifesto, under the governance portfolio. Her LinkedIn profile also identified her as a Governance Sector spokesperson during the NDC campaign.
The organisation cited several social media posts, including a 20 September 2024 Facebook video featuring then NDC presidential candidate John Dramani Mahama, accompanied by the party’s campaign song Asempa by NACEE. On 31 October, she posted a photograph of Mr Mahama with a message about restoring democracy and good governance. On 2 December, she wrote on X: “I will be voting against a government that ridiculed the pains of the people. Imposing a nuisance levy on citizens is not a thing to celebrate. Governance is no joke, citizens are not your enemies.”
CODEO, which comprises more than 41 member organisations, said the perceived politicisation of individual commissioners had contributed to public trust in the EC reaching its lowest level in 2024, according to Afrobarometer.
It said it had repeatedly called for a broader and more transparent process for appointing EC members, including during the appointments of Charlotte Osei in 2014 and Jean Mensah, Bossman Asare and Samuel Tetteh in 2018.
In 2023, CODEO, STAR-Ghana Foundation and Civic Forum Initiative called for the resignation of Dr Peter Appiahene over concerns about his alleged New Patriotic Party affiliation. The issue prompted then presidential aspirant Mr Mahama to call for reforms, including an amendment to Article 43(2) of the 1992 Constitution requiring parliamentary approval for new commissioners.
CODEO said those principles should now apply to appointments made by Mr Mahama’s own administration. It also questioned the Council of State’s failure to create a transparent process for explaining how it advises the President, as required under the Constitution.
The organisation called on Ms Agbenyo to resign, urged President Mahama to demonstrate consistency by supporting that resignation, and asked the government to introduce transparent, merit-based appointments with greater parliamentary oversight.
It also called on the Council of State to provide citizens with information about how it performs its constitutional duties.
CODEO said the Constitutional Review Committee had recommended an open, competitive and merit-based appointment process involving a reformed Council of State, the Public Services Commission and prior parliamentary approval. However, the Government’s Position Paper rejected those changes while saying the President could adopt transparent, merit-based procedures.
The coalition urged the government to reconsider that position, saying the independence of the EC must be protected by both constitutional safeguards and a clear commitment to impartial electoral administration.
