[ 2016-06-28 ]

Charlotte Osei not 'lazy and dumb' - IMANI defends EC boss
“Charlotte Osei, the current Electoral
Commission boss is not lazy and she is not dumb
and she definitely won't trade her body for
excellence,” Franklin Cudjoe head of policy
think-tank IMANI Ghana has stated.

Mr. Cudjoe’s statement comes after allegations
by NPP Member of Parliament for Assin Central
Kennedy Agyepong that Mrs. Osei was appointed
because she yielded to sexual lusts of some
bigwigs in government.

His comments have been widely condemned by some
Ghanaians who describe his utterances as
disrespectful and insulting to women in general.

In a statement, Mr. Cudjoe said the derogatory
remarks by the NPP firebrand are regrettable and
urged people who disagree with the EC boss to stop
insulting her.

Below is the full statement by Franklin Cudjoe

Mrs. Charlotte Osei, the current EC boss is not
lazy and she is not dumb and she definitely won't
trade her body for excellence.

It is regrettable if true the derogatory comments
allegedly made by a sitting MP about her
womanhood. Some of us do in fact, believe
Charlotte is not doing well as current EC boss and
I am very surprised given her stellar performance
as the recent boss of the NCCE.

Last year, she and the NCCE made it to the second
position out of 45 Ministries, Departments and
Agencies ranked by the annual IMANI Public Sector
Leadership Awards.

IMANI ranks but singles out only the top 5 most
inspirational public sector leaders for mention.

Below is what got Charlotte to the top.

NATIONAL COMMISSION FOR CIVIC EDUCATION (NCCE)

The primary mandate of the NCCE is to educate
Ghanaians on all matters of civil affairs. The
rather broad array of civic affairs means the
organization has a rather difficult mandate
particularly given a large number of illiterate or
partially illiterate Ghanaians.

This fact, coupled with the fact that the
Government budget allocation is woefully
inadequate makes its task even more nebulous. As
we speak the commission does not even have its own
head office. Their key staff are literally
‘perching’ at the Electoral Commission’s
head office.

These challenges notwithstanding, the Commission
has consistently strived to deliver on its mandate
as best it can. Under the year in review (October
2014- October 2015), the organization had been
quite busy particularly as a result of the fact
that there was the District level Election in
2015.

During the run-up to these elections, the
Commission was at the forefront educating
Ghanaians across the length and breadth of the
country on the need to take the elections
seriously because local assemblymen are the
closest representatives of the Executive to the
people.

Beyond that, the commission also educated
Ghanaians to vote more women and other minorities
in the district level elections as research
indicates that they are better leaders.

The Commission has further deepened its
engagement with local communities all over the
country by organizing several Town hall meetings,
Local ‘IPAC’ meetings of local executives of
political parties across the country in a bid to
create a harmonious environment in the lead up to
the 2016 elections.

The Commission has also launched special quizzes
and debates specifically on the constitution in
basic and second cycled institutions across the
country also in a bid to fulfill its mandate of
educating Ghanaians on all civic-related issues.
It scored 65% under the Public Engagement Pillar.

The Commission has also improved radically as far
as technology usage is concerned. It currently
stores majority of its documents electronically.

Also, the Commission is using its website and
social media pages to adequately engage the
Ghanaian public.

This is all quite commendable particularly at a
time when a good number of public agencies do not
even have websites. Quite clearly, the
organization undertakes proper research. This is
evident in the number of different publications
NCCE released in the period under review.

It is instructive to note that the organization
was one of the first to do a nation-wide survey
that indicated that majority of Ghanaians wanted
to vote for their DCE’s instead of having them
appointed by the President. The Organization’s
own internal management has been good over the
period as well. Its level of transparency is also
commendable.

It constantly publishes annual report on its
website, in which a detailed financial report of
the year under review is given. It scored 73% and
86% respectively under the Promise of

Transformation and Independence pillar.

Despite the many positives the Commission has
chalked there still remains a lot it has to do to
build its status as a really top institution.
Crucially, the Commission has to find a way to
make its finances more sustainable.

Currently, it heavily relies on Donor generosity
which is clearly problematic. Perhaps, the
Commission may have to exert itself more to ensure
that it gets its ‘due’, from the Government.

Furthermore, the Commission has to do more to
exert its influence in the most urban parts of the
country.

There seems to be a lot of focus on more
less-urban (rural) parts of the country. While the
logic in this approach is easy to understand, it
has led to many in Accra, for instance, assuming
that the Commission is not working.

The commission has to note that civil unrest
rarely ever starts from rural areas hence the need
to double up its efforts in the urban areas. In a
nutshell, the overall activities of the commission
has been very commendable over the period under
review and certainly deserves the award as
there’s a lot other similar agencies can learn
from.

So, by all means, disagree and get angry with
Charlotte but do not insult her!!!

Source - Starrfmonline.com

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