{"id":84225,"date":"2015-01-21T06:24:37","date_gmt":"2015-01-21T06:24:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/4cd.e16.myftpupload.com\/?p=84225"},"modified":"2015-01-21T06:24:37","modified_gmt":"2015-01-21T06:24:37","slug":"politicise-district-assembly-elections-ob-amoah","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?p=84225","title":{"rendered":"Politicise District Assembly elections – OB Amoah"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Member of Parliament for Akuapim South, O. B. Amoah is urging Ghanaians to consider making amendments to the nation\u2019s electoral laws and the constitution to allow for District Assembly elections to be made partisan.<\/p>\n

He said it was imperative for the nation to stop the pretence that District Assembly elections are non-partisan.<\/p>\n

[contextly_sidebar id=”nsIBZCQw5Gp6Fdzuph3c9S9i6CermObg”]\u201cDo we really still believe that this whole election is non-partisan?\u201d he asked, adding that \u201cIf we are going to live in this pretence, we might as well decide that indeed, the time has come for us to make this whole election partisan and that is the way to go. I think it\u2019s high time we change this whole idea.\u201d<\/p>\n

He argued that Ghanaians are \u201cliving in pretence in the sense that we all know that people are doing all these things because of huge political background and we must as well pick it up.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ghana\u2019s District Assembly and Unit Committee elections have been set for March 3, 2015.<\/strong><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Over the years, the Electoral Commission (EC) and other key stakeholders have bemoaned the low patronage these elections receive.<\/p>\n

Speaking on Eyewitness News<\/strong>, OB Amoah insisted that these elections have partisan undertones therefore; it is only wise to amend the constitution to give it legitimacy.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the local level, everybody knows which particular party individuals belong to and how active they are\u2026and when it comes to endorsing the DCE who has been nominated, it\u2019s along party lines.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"O.<\/a>
O. B. Amoah<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

According to him, \u201cthe DCE [District Chief Executive] is appointed by government; almost everybody is aware that those who even go to the Assembly, most of them are political party activists to the extent that those who will go and file to stand for these elections are either polling station executives or even constituency executives.\u201d<\/p>\n

OB Amoah remarked that making the local elections partisan, it will bring about competition and efficiency.<\/p>\n

In a related development, the Associate Director of the Center for Local Government Advocacy, Dr. J. F Akwettey has supported OB Amoah\u2019s call.<\/p>\n

According to him, the development of politics and governance in Ghana over the years points to the fact that there is the need to revisit \u201cthat concept that we have – partisanship in our election system and a non-partisan local level election system.\u201d<\/p>\n

He pointed out that the non-politicization of local level election is in theory but in practice, there is a lot of partisanship at the local level.<\/p>\n

Dr. Akwettey said politicizing the District Assembly elections will whip up enthusiasm in the voters \u201cbecause we can see at the national level, the hysteria that drives voting when it comes to general election be it parliamentary of presidential.\u201d<\/p>\n

He observed that some candidates are indirectly being supported by some political parties \u201cbut if it\u2019s made partisan, the parties will nominate their own accredited representatives who they think will perform better.\u201d<\/p>\n

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By: Efua Idan Osam\/citifmonline.com\/Ghana
\nFollow @osamidan<\/a>
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