Despite the numerous education campaigns by the National Commission on Civic Education and other NGOs to encourage women in the Jomoro District to contest the district assembly election, only three women filed their nominations.
They are Victoria Ocran at Bonyere Ackah Suazo, Louisa Iris Arde at Bonyere Ekegyinla and Comfort Adjei-Wah Ntoni in the Nvellenu-Bawia electoral areas.
[contextly_sidebar id=”BVq7936axM7qv0g1yk7cJqJMlObcvz5N”]A survey conducted in the Jomoro District has revealed that at the close of nomination to the District Assembly; only these women put themselves up as candidates.
The Survey indicated that a total of 112, including the three women, had filed their nominations to contests the 34 seats of the District Assembly at the close of nomination on 21 December 2014.
It came out during the survey that the women were unwilling to contest the election because of illiteracy and the fear of intimidation and insults from both males and female contenders.
Though the Jomoro District Assembly has adopted both English and Nzema as its official language for business, English is mostly used in its deliberation.
This has made it challenging for majority of the Assembly Members to contribute during Assembly Meetings.
The Jomoro District electoral Officer, Isaac Ano-Otoo, expressed concern about the situation, saying, “it is a dent on the country’s political dispensation”.
It will be recalled that in the last District Assembly Election, all the three women who filed nomination to contest the election lost to their male counterparts.
The few women at the Assembly are government appointees.
The Electoral Commission has fixed Tuesday, March 3, 2015 for the conduct of the District Assembly and Unit Committee Elections throughout the country, except the Lower Manya Krobo District.
According to the 1994 District Assembly Elections Act 473, “elections to a district assembly shall be held every four years, except that the elections shall be held at least six months away from parliamentary elections”.
A candidate seeking election to a District Assembly or any lower local government unit shall present himself to the electorate as an individual, and shall not use any symbol associated with any political party.
A political party shall not endorse, sponsor, offer a platform to or in any way campaign for or against a candidate seeking election to a District Assembly or any lower local government unit.
Source: GNA