A legal battle between lawyers of the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission and counsel for some unnamed workers of the Commission looms following a petition demanding the impeachment of the EC chair Charlotte Osei.

Thaddeus Sory who is Lawyer for Mrs Osei insists the content of a 29-point petition which is supposed to be the basis for the impeachment of his client were injurious and defamatory.

He has therefore written to Maxwell Opoku Agyemang, lawyer for the petitioners, demanding that he presents the names and identities of the workers of the EC so that legal action will be taken against them, failing which he the lawyer will be named as the defendant.

Maxwell Agyemang is yet to be served a copy of the letter but has called the bluff of his colleague insisting fighting defamation has always been part of his profession.

Petition

On Tuesday night, Joy News intercepted copies of a 29-point petition by workers of the Electoral Commission requesting for the impeachment of the Chairperson for stated misbehavior.

The unnamed workers alleged the Chairperson of the Commission in many instances breached the Procurement Law in procuring goods and services for the Commission.

In what the petitioners claim to be a one-woman show, Charlotte Osei was alleged to have unilaterally and without recourse to procurement procedures engaged the services of lawyers, Sory@Law who represented the Commission in the pre-election legal banter with aggrieved parties and disqualified flagbearers.

She was also alleged to have abrogated an existing contract with Super Tech Ltd. (STL), unilaterally renegotiating and re-awarding the contract at new sum of $21,999,592 without serious regard to the tender processes.

“The chairperson, Mrs Charlotte Osei unilaterally awarded a contract of about $25,000 to a South African company Quazar Limited to change and re-develop the Commission’s Logo under the guise of rebranding without going through tender contrary to the Public Procurement Act,” point 26 of the petition read.

Apart from the breaches of the Procurement Law, the petitioners claimed the EC chair compromised her position and the independence of the Commission by attending cabinet meetings during the tenure of the John Mahama administration and even caused the arrangement of a 2015 Land Cruiser with registration number WR 2291-15 from the office of the president for use as her official vehicle.

The petitioners also levelled allegations of managerial, administrative incompetence and ineptitude against the EC Chair.

So bad is her human relations, that the EC Chair is not on talking terms with the two other deputies and has not even visited any of the district EC offices ever since she was appointed, the petitioners claimed.

“The chairperson has submitted an estimate of over 1 million for the renovation of the official bungalow for the Chairperson without recourse to the Commission or the appropriate staff in the commission,” the petitioners claimed.

The July 13, 2017 petition has since been submitted to the presidency, for onward submission to the Chief Justice for preliminary investigations.

But Mrs Osei is not impressed with the content of petition and has caused his lawyers to take legal action.

Sory letter

Thadeus Sory

Even before the hearing for impeachment will begin, Thaddeus Sory has fired his first salvo demanding names of the petitioners or he will cite his compatriot lawyer and counsel for petitioners as the defendant in the case he is about to file.

In letter written to Maxwell Boateng lawyer for the petitioners, Thaddeus Sory stated “…we have noted several defamatory statements in respect of which we have our client’s irrevocable instructions to take immediate action against your clients who have not been disclosed on the face of your letter.”

“At all times material to our present letter to you, your letter has received widespread publication in the mass and social media by way of radio broadcasts and discussions including comments in blatant violation of the confidentiality requirements of Article 146 of the 1992 Constitution pursuant to which you have petitioned the president of the republic.

“Our client has instructed us to demand from you and we hereby so demand the full list of these ‘ concerned staff of the Electoral Commission to enable us commence legal action against them for the defamatory statements contained in their petition, failing which our client will be constrained to proceed against you alone as defendant in the suit our client intends to commence against them since you are, to all intents and purposes, their agent.” The letter from Sory read.

Bluff

But Maxwell Agyemang who is representing the petitioners is not at all sorry for leading the petition.

In a posturing that says bring it on, he told Joy News’ Evans Mensah he is not one to be intimidated with jargons of defamation and dared Sory to go to court.

He said at the appropriate time, the names and identities of the concerned EC workers will be made known and when that time comes, the full evidence of all the allegations made will be made available.

“I don’t represent ghosts,” he threw a salvo of his own.

He found it interesting the comment by Sory that he represents the Chairperson of the EC and not the EC itself.

He said if it is proven that the EC chair used state funds in paying the legal cost incurred as a result of Sory’s legal representation that too will be a matter worthy of interest to the state.