Ghana's Electoral Commission has denied reports that its Chairperson, Mrs Jean Mensa, is back in Ghana to honour a summons from parliament. 

The EC, in a statement, said: "“We wish to state that contrary to news item that EC chair has returned to Ghana, the chairperson is still in Nigeria. She has not returned to Ghana".

Dismissing claims that the EC Chair disrespected parliament's invitation in connection with a new constitutional instrument that intends to make the Ghanacard the primary source document for voter registration, the EC said: “For the attention of the general public, the EC received a letter from Parliament on Wednesday 22 February 2023 inviting the commission to brief the leadership of the House on the draft CI on the registration of voters on Thursday 23 February 2023".

“At that time, the chairperson had travelled to Nigeria at the invitation of ECOWAS/ECONEC for a peer exchange and election observation mission. That notwithstanding, Dr Bossman Asare, Deputy Chair for Corporate Services attended the meeting with other directors of the Commission".

If Jean Mensa snubs parliament today, too, we'll drag her before Privileges Committee -- Minority Caucus

Meanwhile, the Minority Caucus in parliament has said the continued snubbing of the legislature's invitations by the Chairperson of Ghana's Electoral Commission has reached intolerable levels and, thus, intends to haul her before the Privileges Committee if she repeats her snubbish conduct.

The Ranking Member of the Defence and Interior Committee, Mr James Agalga, told the media that it ia high time Mrs Mensa is forced to respect parliament.

“I have indicated to you that her continuous absence is contemptuous. First of all, the assurance has been given that she would appear. If she doesn’t, seriously speaking, we will escalate our actions to include the referral of Jean Mensa to the Privileges Committee to be dealt with for contempt of Parliament”, Mr Agalga warned.

Mrs Mensa is expected to appear before the house today, Tuesday, 28 February 2023, along with the Executive Secretary of the National Identification Authority, Prof Ken Attefuah, to brief the legislature about the new constitutional instrument.

However, the EC mentioned in its release that parliament's invitation came late, thus, the inability of the Chairperson to honour it personally.

"The Commission, especially its Chairperson, understands the importance of the institution of parliament, having worked with parliament for two decades prior to her appointment as Chairperson of the EC".

"The Chairperson upholds the institution of parliament and will, therefore, not disrespect it in any way".

"The fact remains that the invitation from parliament was sent a day before the meeting, at a time when the Chairperson was out of the jurisdiction".

"Had she been aware of the request prior to her travel, she certainly would have prioritised the meeting and attended upon the honourable house", the EC said.

Last week, the Speaker of Parliament, Mr Alban Bagbin, summoned Mrs Mensa to appear in person over the C.I.

Despite one of her deputies honouring the imvitation on Thursday for that purpose, Mr Bagbin insisted the EC Chair herself show up since Dr Bossman Asare, in the Speaker's view, cannot give the needed assurances the houses needed to hear.

The summoning of Mrs Mensa followed the insistence of Minority Leader Cassiel Ato Forson that she be present in the house for herself.

Majority Leader Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu had counter-argued that since the invitation was extended to the EC, as an institution, it was in order for Dr Bossman Asare to represent the election management body.

Mr Bagbin, however, said it was important for Mrs Mensa to honour the invitation in person.

"The Deputy Chairperson in charge of operation is quite high enough, but he cannot be giving the assurances that the Chairperson will give", Mr Bagbin said, adding: "In the circumstances, I will be compelled to adjourn the house".

"We will insist that the EC be represented at the highest level and together, we will find solutions to this. It’s very, very important for the peace, the security and the development of this nation", the Speaker noted.

In October last year, Mr Bagbin said until the Electoral Commission briefed the leadership of parliament about the new constitutional instrument, it cannot be laid before the house.

The EC’s new C.I. seeks to make the Ghanacard the sole proof of nationality for the forthcoming limited voter registration exercise.

Mr Bagbin, however, said at the time: “…I have not been given any brief by the EC on any proposed instrument coming from them. And so I raised this some time ago, and I’m yet to receive them to be briefed on them. Until that is done, they should forget about laying such Instruments in the House”.

In August 2022, the EC announced that after a series of meetings with the political parties and civil society organisations, they agreed with the parties that the Ghanacard be used as the sole document for voter registration.

“It was agreed that now that the Ghana card has made a lot of impact in our society – as we speak now, almost 17 million Ghanaians have registered for the Ghana card, so, the Commission, in collaboration with our partners, took the decision that: ‘Now, let’s have the Ghana card as the main requirement’”, Dr Bossman Asare, Deputy Chairman of the EC in charge of Corporate Services, said.