‘Double standards are not helpful, wrong yesterday is wrong today’ – Ablakwa on Emelia’s EC appointment

Foreign Affairs Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has criticised what he describes as double standards in the public debate surrounding the appointment of Emelia Affi Agbenyo to the Electoral Commission (EC).

Mr Ablakwa said while President John Dramani Mahama did not breach the Constitution in making the appointment, concerns over the perception of political affiliation and neutrality at the EC should not be dismissed.

Speaking in an interview on JoyNews on Saturday, October 18, he said the same standards used to criticise appointments under previous administrations must be applied consistently.

“Those double standards are not helpful in our public discourse. I would have wished for an entirely different situation. Yes, constitutionally, the President has not acted unconstitutionally, but the optics don’t look good. And those who are criticising have the right, because we criticised when we were in opposition, and we believed that we were on the right footing,” he said.

Mr Ablakwa argued that the EC should be made up of individuals whose neutrality and independence can command public confidence in the electoral process.

Using a football analogy, he questioned the credibility of a referee perceived to have an affiliation with one of the teams involved in a match.

“She is a woman of impeccable integrity. But the optics don’t look good, and I have always maintained that. Let’s have very neutral, independent arbiters appointed to the Electoral Commission. If it was wrong yesterday, it was not the best yesterday. It cannot be excellent today.”

The minister, however, separated his concerns about the perception surrounding the appointment from his assessment of Ms Agbenyo’s character and competence.

He described her as a fiercely independent individual whom he had known since her days as a student activist and said her personal qualities demonstrated her ability to perform her duties impartially.

“I’m not taking anything away from her competence and the fact that she can do the job. She is a woman of impeccable integrity,” he said.

Mr Ablakwa expressed regret that Ms Agbenyo had become the subject of the controversy, stressing that his reservations were not about her qualifications or ability to perform the role.

Rather, he said, his concern centred on the broader principle of appointing individuals with perceived political affiliations to institutions where independence is essential.

He reiterated his call for neutral and independent individuals to serve as electoral arbiters, arguing that public confidence in the EC depends on applying the same standards to appointments irrespective of which political party is in power.