President Nana Akufo-Addo has filled the Electoral Commission with pro-New Patriotic Party officials who are now Commissioners, former President John Mahama has complained, and urged the Church to speak out on such issues.

In an encounter with the Christian Ecumenical Council on Monday, 20 May 2024, Mr Mahama accused the president thus: “This is a president who is appointing politically exposed people into positions of trust where they are supposed to be neutral and non-partisan and, so, people who have been communicators for the party, people who have been IT backstops for the party, today, are Commissioners of the Electoral Commission”.

“How do you expect them to be neutral and fair in what is happening?” Mr Mahama wondered.

He continued: “People who were patrons of TESCON on campus are today Commissioners of the Electoral Commission”.

Mr Mahama said he is raising the issue before the church so the clergy can add their voice to his concerns.

“We want to wake up the conscience of the nation that the right thing must be done so that the outcome can actually be the will of the people”, he said.

“So, going up to the election, we will continue to play our part. We will raise the red flags anytime we think things are not going very well. And we believe that the church community should also keep an eye and be vigilant in terms of making sure that the right thing is done.”

This is the umpteenth time Mr Mahama has made such allegations against the EC.

In June 2023, he said the National Democratic Congress (NDC) knows it is "going against an incumbent government that has proven that it is prepared to shed the blood of its citizens to hang on to power, as they amply showed at the Ayawaso West Wuogon by-election and the 2020 elections” together with an Electoral Commission "whose neutrality in this electoral contest is questionable".

Speaking at the party’s European Chapters Conference in Amsterdam, Holland, Mr Mahama said: “Our work is, therefore, cut out for us”, noting: “We must get off our marks immediately and convince Ghanaians that we are prepared to govern in addition to our superior record to that of the NPP”.

“The first step toward doing that is proving that we can manage our internal affairs, which is why this European Conference is significant”, Mr Mahama added.

He said: “It offers a platform for sharing unique insights into better organisational strategies and innovative approaches to mobilising the people of Ghana for a resounding victory in 2024”.