The eight-member Constitutional Review Committee (CRC) has proposed reforms to strengthen the independence and efficiency of Ghana’s Electoral Commission (EC), recommending that the Chair and Deputy Commissioners serve a single, non-renewable 10-year term or until reaching the age of 65, whichever comes first.
Presenting the recommendation in the committee’s final report to President John Dramani Mahama on Monday, December 22, Chair Prof. H. Kwasi Prempeh said, “The Committee recommends an amendment to Article 223 to provide that the Commissioner and each of the Deputy Commissioners of the Commission shall hold office for a single, non-renewable term of ten (10) years or upon or until he or she attains the age of 65 years, whichever is earlier.”
The CRC, an eight-member panel including Prof. Prempeh, Justice Sophia Adinyira, former EC Chair Charlotte Osei, and other experts, also recommended streamlining the EC to include only a Commissioner and two Deputy Commissioners, removing the “four other members,” to ensure independence and efficiency.
Appointments, according to the Committee would be made by the President based on nominations from a reformed Council of State, subject to parliamentary approval, following an open and competitive process administered by the Public Services Commission.
On removal, the committee proposed that Commissioners or Deputies may be removed only for willful violation of the law, dereliction of duty, or abuse of power, with investigations conducted by an independent tribunal.
The reforms are intended to safeguard the EC’s autonomy, improve governance, and ensure continuity in its leadership.
