The Presidential plaudits he received for an ostensible job well done notwithstanding, Electoral Commission (EC) strongman Afari-Gyan’s notorious intransigence last week cost Ghana monetarily and emotionally.
Although he was not present at the Supreme Court when Justice William Atuguba and others found his action on the district assemblies objectionable and therefore pulled a dampener over it, the whole scenario was a déjà vu of sorts.
Some Ghanaians have already began demanding that he be dragged to court for causing financial loss to the state. We would add that the charges should include “wilfully inflicting emotional ado on aspirants.”
Hon Alex Markin, the lawyer who led the charge against him, has remarked that matters would not have reached this heady state had Afari-Gyan listened to good counsel.
The ado this intransigence has cost the individual aspirants and the state directly and indirectly can only be conjectured at this stage. For a man who has always gotten away with knotty messes for which he is responsible, he would characteristically, cigarette between his fingers, watch cartoons on the screen as the rest of Ghana moans over the aftermath of the cancelled district level polls.
Perhaps he thought he could count on the support of the Supreme Court once more.
One man sees the EC strongman differently. Of course, we can bet the President would not stop at recommending the man he holds in high esteem for the country’s highest award when such opportunity knocks.
Until then, however, the President could not wait to administer accolades on a man many regard as impervious to good counsel and for whom the EC is nothing but a fiefdom he can manipulate as a puppeteer would puppetry.
If the solo commendation he received as he prepares to clear his desk for a new life in retirement on his fish pond has bloated his ego, let him listen to the majority of Ghanaians who sneered when his name found space in the State of the Nation Address.
We do not know how long he would hold on to the reins of the EC but one thing is clear though: the reforms which all Ghanaians, safe the ruling, are calling for must not be treated as he did the district level assembly polls.
The bloated register issue is the most critical subject which we cannot afford to have ignored. As a man who rarely listens to good counsel, Afari-Gyan might be tempted to taunt Ghanaians by marginalising the bloated register issue. That would have been the greatest blunder of his public service life for which Ghanaians would not forgive him.
Ghanaians love their country’s peace and cannot afford to have a stubborn Afari-Gyan change the security status quo of their Motherland. The Supreme Court ruling offers hard lessons for the old fellow; let him consider them and be wise.
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