Ghanaian electoral boss for senators’ retreat on reform

By Festus Owete and Emmanuel Ogala

The Senate ad-hoc committee reviewing the 1999 Constitution has invited the chairperson of the Electoral Commission of Ghana, Kojo Afari-Gyan, to speak at its forthcoming retreat in Kaduna State.

Also expected to speak at the forum, which will be attended by the Speakers of the 36 states’ houses of assembly, is the chairperson of the defunct Electoral Reform Committee and former Chief Justice of Nigeria, Muhammadu Uwais.

The retreat will hold on October 8 and 9, 2009.

A statement, on Sunday, in Abuja, by the Office of the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, who also heads the 44-member committee, said Mr. Afar-Gyan’s presentation is titled “Designing Electoral Laws for Effective Election Management: Global and Regional Perspective.”

The topic, according to the statement, will touch on the legal framework for elections, constitutional courts and independent candidacy among other issues.

“As you might be aware, Dr Afari-Gyan is the Chairman of the Ghanaian Electoral Commission and has a good knowledge of international standards and best practices on electoral matters as well as vast experience in election management,” the statement by Paul Odenyi, Mr Ekweremadu’s aide, said. Mr. Odenyi also said the Electoral Commission boss has confirmed his coming.

Mr. Afari-Dyan-led Ghana’s election commission has successfully organized three general elections in the last 11 years. The elections are those that brought former President John Kufour to power as well as his re-election. He also led the body in the election that brought the incumbent, John Attah Mills, to power early this year.

Mr. Afari-Dyan was a member of the ECOWAS fact-finding team on the 2007 general elections in Nigeria.

The six-member team, led by former Gambian President Dauda Jawara, appraised the preparations for the April 2007 election which brought President Umaru Yar’Adua to power.

International support

Mr. Ekweremadu had, earlier this month, said that the ad-hoc committee would seek technical assistance from international organizations in the task of reviewing the 1999 Constitution.

Already, the committee has written to America’s National Democratic Institute for assistance.

The decision is aimed at bringing in an international expert in the field of constitution and electoral laws as well as electoral management.

The Senate ad-hoc committee is embarking on a separate amendment process from that of the House which is chaired by Deputy Speaker Usman Nafada.

Both committees had disagreed over the position of Mr. Nafada in the National Assembly Joint Committee on the Review of the 1999 Constitution.

The House committee has already conducted public hearings into the six bills forwarded to the National Assembly by President Umaru Yar’Adua.

Its Senate counterpart, it was learnt, will organize hearings on the bills after the retreat in Kaduna.

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Reader Comments (3)

Posted by Ige David on Sep 28 2009

Off cause need not be told,i mean what else if expected from someone that has been giving opportunity that has not been able to convince the general public.Left to me Prof.Owu is just one of PDP'S puppert he does not know his right,because his dignity,integrity and ideology of life should come first,if he feels that whta he is giving is his best possible than,it is not good enough he should allow men with charisma step in and get the job done well without controvesy and blames.Owu failure is indeed too obvious the Ekiti State scenerio says it all he is not the right man for the position,because the Anambra guber election is just around the corner what is to be expected "zero nada".We need new hands like Humprey Nwosu to conduct a free and fair election in this entity called Nigeria.

Posted by Bunmi Amosu on Sep 28 2009

Isn't it a shame that we are calling on a resource person from Ghana to come and show us the way? We need not call anybody to come and tell us what to do, we know what to do but the greedy clan we call leaders are not willing to dot he right thing. Did Ghana call on anyone to come and tell them to reform before they conducted their elections? We are just a bunch of jokers in this country and the comedy does appear will continue as long as we don't challenge ourselves to do what is right.

Posted by Silent observer on Sep 28 2009

I don't think is a shame calling on the Ghanaian electoral boss. We all depend on one another to achieve success. We have lots of fashion designers or better still tailors in Ghana, but the current government decided to give the contract of designing school uniforms for Ghanaian students to a Chinese firm. That's how we are. We were born with igorance. You don't have to be surprise or ashamed.