Jean Mensa did not perform the duties she was supposed to perform– Rojo Mettle – Nunoo

The third witness of the Petitioner in the ongoing Election Petition, Robert Joseph Mettle-Nunoo has disclosed that the Chairperson of Electoral Commission, Mrs Jean Mensa failed to carry out her duties expected of her during the collation of the 2020 election results.

He explained the EC Chair was absent from the strong room, where the election results were been collated making a only a series of brief visit to the place, thereby ignoring his supervisory responsibilities on the day as prescribed by Ghana’s Constitution.

“It is my understanding also that the specific role of the Chairperson of the EC as the sole Returning Officer is provided for in the Constitution and in the same Regulations. Prior to her so-called declaration on gth December 2020, the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission did not perform the duties she was supposed to perform in order to be able to declare a winner of the election as she attempted to do. In the entire period after the election on 7th December 2020 she made a couple of very brief visits to the strong room”. 

Mr Mettle –Nunoo made the revelation in his witness statement filed on Thursday, February 4, 2021.

Article 45 of Ghana’s Constitution, among other things assigned the Electoral Commission the duty to conduct and supervise all public elections and referenda.

Aside from the EC Chairperson absent from the strong room, Mr Nunoo-Mensah also revealed, fax machines which were to aid in the transmission of the results from the various regions to the strong rooms were also not working while others work at a slow pace.

The development he said gave room for the Director of Elections and Deputy Director of the EC, Dr. Sereboe Quaicoe to bring in supposed pink sheet which authenticity, he and his other colleague in the strong room Dr Michael Kpessa-Whytes could not vouch for.

“On 9th December 2021, for many hours, the fax machines in the strong room were not working. One could see the frustration on the faces of many of the dedicated fax machine EC personnel. The fax transmission was also slow,” his statement said.

“Instead of that pre-arranged transmission system for the regional collation sheets to be transmitted to the head office of the Electoral Commission, what happened part of the time was that one of the Deputy Director of the EC, Dr. Sereboe Quaicoe, would, from time to time, bring into the strong room what was claimed to be a regional collation sheet. How he got that sheet was not disclosed,” the witness statement said.

Source: GhanaPlus.com