Dr Kwadwo Afari-Gyan was until his retirement in 2015, the Chairman of Ghana’s Electoral Commission, a position he had held since 1993. He was the number two in the Interim National Electoral Commission that supervised the 1992 election that ushered in the Fourth Republican dispensation. He had also, as a member of the Committee of Experts drafted to propose a constitution for the country, which were later deliberated on by the Constituent Assembly and ratified in a referendum in 1992.
After the coming into force of the constitution, Dr Gyan was appointed to head the substantive organization and went on to oversee the organization of five general elections as well as district level and by-elections. Prior to assuming the position, he was a distinguished and widely published academic, lecturing in political science in Ghana, Nigeria and the United States. He was educated at Achimota School and Adisadel College and the University of Ghana, where he read Philosophy at both the undergraduate and post-graduate levels. As commissioner,
Dr Gyan’s calm demeanor was as critical to the success of the elections he supervised as was his fidelity to the rules and unflinching impartiality. Under his leadership, he pursued various reforms that strengthened the commission and improved the electoral process. His work earned him wide-spreadrespect and he was recognized by various institutions in Ghana and abroad. In 2015, then President John Dramani Mahama conferred on him the Order of the Star of Ghana, one of the highest honors in the country.
