The National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), has said it has reached advanced stages in preparation for its debate for presidential and parliamentary candidates ahead of the November polls.<\/p>\n
According the commission, it has received broad support for\u00a0the debate, adding it will\u00a0soon announce the ground rules for the debates.<\/p>\n
[contextly_sidebar id=”Jil3AWRwOVUg7uKB6opKkMNzC8ep1Es4″]Some persons\u00a0and institutions such as the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), have questioned the capacity of \u00a0the NCCE<\/strong><\/a><\/span> to effectively organize such debates, when it has a task to educate citizens on their civic responsibilities which includes voting.<\/p>\n But the Commission has downplayed the criticisms, saying it has the capacity, and that such an exercise will not be outside its mandate.<\/p>\n The acting Chairman of the NCCE, Samuel Akuamoah, told Citi News<\/strong>\u00a0that they will soon make known their lined up programmes.<\/p>\n \u201cWith preparation we are about 99% ready. Key among the preparatory issues was consultation with the political parties and other key stakeholders. With the political parties, we have met with almost all of them; we have just about two political parties outstanding. We are ready,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Mr. Akuamoah also noted that, after consulting the remaining two parties, they would constitute a committee to finalize the processes.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are currently waiting to finish with the last two political parties then the planning committee will be put in place to start meetings to discuss the plan that we have put together for their inputs in terms of the host or moderators, venues, strategies and structure of the engagement. So after that, we will hit the ground running,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n Don\u2019t allow CSOs to usurp your powers<\/strong><\/p>\n The General Secretary of the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC), Johnson Asiedu Nketia earlier charged the NCCE<\/strong><\/a><\/span> to ensure that civil society organizations do not take over their roles.<\/p>\n \u201cThe NCCE should not create space to allow civil society organisations to usurp its function,\u201d the NDC General Secretary said.<\/p>\n NDC officially boycotts IEA debates<\/strong><\/p>\n The governing NDC \u00a0announced a total boycott<\/strong><\/a><\/span> of the IEA debates but assured to be on the NCCE platform.<\/p>\n A statement signed by the party\u2019s General Secretary, Johnson Aseidu Nketiah stated that the decision was taken by the NDC\u2019s Functional Executive Committee.<\/p>\n \u201cThe National Democratic Congress (NDC), has, at its Functional Executive Committee (FEC), Meeting on Tuesday, June 21, 2016, decided not to participate in any debate to be organized by the Institute Of Economic Affairs (IEA), as far as it is related to the 2016 General Election,\u201d the statement added.<\/p>\n The NDC have not been happy with the IEA\u2019s decision to hold a separate debate for flagbearers for the two leading political parties, NPP and NDC as well as what they term as IEAs lack of consultation ahead of its debates.<\/p>\n –<\/p>\n By: Godwin A. Allotey\/citifmonline.com\/Ghana
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