A former chairman of the Electoral Commission (EC), Justice VCRAC Crabbe has charged the commission and government not to delay district level elections ever again.
[contextly_sidebar id=”QqEH2fS66ewqmg9VOoRGeguU8fflWTtV”]Since 2011, the district assembly elections have been dogged with many problems including inconsistent election dates, staggered elections and court battles.
In February 2015, for instance the Supreme Court directed the electoral commission to postpone the local level elections, which was scheduled for September 2015.
The EC was dragged to court by an aspiring Assembly man, Benjamin Eyi Mensah, represented by lawyer Alex Afenyo Markin.
According to Eyi Mensah, a fisherman, he was denied an opportunity to file his nomination despite meeting all conditions to contest but the EC closed nominations before the maturation of the Constitutional Instrument (CI) 85.
Speaking at a forum organized by the Coalition for Domestic Election Observers (CODEO), the former supreme court judge tasked Ghanaians to prioritize the district level elections since to him any delay in that election will negatively affect the development of the country.
The co-chair of CODEO explained that the act of devolving power and authority from the central government to local levels is aimed at allowing both local representation and governmental efficiency in the planning and delivery of public services.
He further stated that it is evident that the organization of the district assembly election has not been consistent and these delays may create constitutional and administrative vacuum and affect the management of the districts.
But, the director of Public Affairs at the EC, Christian Owusu Parry believes the legal framework for the conduct of district level elections is to blame for the delays that are experienced in these election
According to him the law does not stipulate the exact date for the conduct of the district assembly elections unlike the general elections.
They will therefore be compelled only to work within the deadlines if the law is changed to provide a fixed date.
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By: Raymond Acquah/citifmonline.com/Ghana