Assembly Elections

District assembly elections must be on partisan lines

Ejisu (Ash), June 22, GNA - Participants at a district level consultative forum in the Ejisu-Juaben Municipality on the Constitution review have expressed the view that election to the district assemblies should be made partisan.

They said Article 248 of the Constitution, precluding political parties from endorsing, sponsoring and offering a platform to or in any way campaigning for a candidate seeking election to a district assembly or any lower local government unit, must be expunged.

The contributors, many of them assembly members, said it should not be lost on anyone that the assembly polls were influenced by the political parties.

Added to this, is the fact that the 30 per cent appointees to the assemblies made by the President, invariably tend to be people with strong links to the ruling political party, who contested but lost the assembly elections.

They said it was time "we stopped pretending that we are operating a non-partisan system."

They argued that the district level polls would become more lively and attractive if the political parties became openly involved.

Again they were unanimous in their position that metropolitan, municipal and district chief executives should be elected to make them more accountable to the people.

The current arrangement where these officials are appointed by the President created conditions for arrogance and corruption, they said.

The participants also want a limit to be set on the number of ministers the President could appoint to rein in government's expenditure.

Mr Henry Delengo Folie, a Researcher to the Constitution Review Commission, urged all Ghanaians to show keen interest in the review process to make it a success.

GNA

More Women Must Participate In Assembly Elections - Chigabatia

By Benjamin Xornam Glover

The Upper East Regional Chairperson of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Mrs Agnes Asangalisah Chigabatia, has reiterated the need for more women to take active part in the forthcoming district level elections.

While conceding that politics was not a game for the faint-hearted, she suggested that it was about time women developed interest, particularly, at the grass roots level where their impact would be well felt, adding that if more women showed interest and participated in the decision-making process in their communities, there would be peace.

“By our nature, women have that motherly love and care and this will be translated into tackling issues in the community”, she said.

Mrs Chigabatia expressed concern about the failure of women in the country to actively vie for political office and stressed that if women really wanted to take part in the decision-making process of the country, they should take such bold challenges by competing with men in all aspects of governance.

The former lawmaker, who was a recipient of an international award, made these comments during an interview in Bolgatanga.

The “Great African Patriotic Achiever for 2009 Award” was presented to her at a ceremony held at the Holiday Inn, London, in recognition of her humanitarian activities and contribution to the building of her country and Africa as a whole.

Mrs Chigabatia expressed her appreciation to the people of the Builsa North and the NPP family for giving her the opportunity to become a Member of Parliament and also for making her the first female Regional Chairperson of the NPP, all of which exposed her to be nominated for the award.

While commending the media for exposing her works at the grass roots and at the parliamentary levels between the year 2004 to 2008 on the ticket of the New Patriotic Party, Mrs Chigabatia, who runs the St. Agnes Vocational Institute which trains the youth in her area in hairdressing, dress-making and ICT free of charge called on the governmental and non-governmental organisations to support women's activities in the area of politics to enable them contest the district level elections from where they could build their political careers.

Commenting on the current presidential race within her party, she cautioned the five aspirants for the flagbearership to desist from mudslinging, stressing that “we are one family”.

She expressed optimism that with determination, hard work and unity, the NPP would recapture power.

“If you look critically at the way the NDC is managing the country, should we put our house in order, all shall be well,” she said.

Mrs Chigabatia said she did not believe in the existence of camps within the party, adding that at the end of it all, God will choose for them a leader who they would all rally behind to help the NPP recapture power in 2012.

She advised the youth, especially, those belonging to her party, to desist from allowing themselves to be used as tools to tarnish the image of the party.

She advised them to take their businesses, academic and vocational training seriously, while they gradually prepare to step into the shoes of the current leaders.

Source: Daily Graphic

Constitution Review process
Assembly members defend non-partisan assembly system

Assembly members in the Ga East Municipality have vehemently defended the non-partisan assembly system, rejecting suggestions that assembly elections should be made partisan.

According to them, running local level elections on partisan basis will rob certain communities of development, and eventually defeat the purpose of decentralization, which is to facilitate development at the local level.

The members shared these views during a forum organized last Wednesday by the Ga East Municipal Assembly and the Constitution Review Commission's Greater Accra team.

It was to afford residents of the area the opportunity to contribute to the process of reviewing the 1992 Republican Constitution of Ghana.

In attendance were chiefs, representatives of security agencies, traders, transport industry players and students from the West Africa Senior High School, Adenta and Action Senior High School, Madina.

Discussions on decentralization and local governance generated a lot of interest. Contributions were taken on whether chiefs should participate in active politics, whether district level elections should be made partisan and whether district chief executives should be elected or not.

Article 248 (1) of the 1992 Constitution stipulates that "A candidate seeking election as 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."

Further, Article 248 (2) provides, "A political party shall not endorse, sponsor, offer a platform to or in anyway campaign for or against a candidate seeking election to a District Assembly or any lower local government unit."

But it is apparent that what pertain on the ground breaches the above provisions. It is common knowledge that some political parties stealthily sponsor candidates. Thus, legalizing this practice through a review of the constitutional provisions is overdue.

In contrast, Choro Adams, Assemblyman for Danfa Electoral Area, says those views are mere perceptions not backed by evidence.

Rather, assembly members are independent and their status catalyses the development of local communities. He cautions that politicizing local governance could be detrimental to some communities.

According to him, Ghana should learn from the case of Uganda where elected local government officials who belong to parties which are not in government are unable to access resources from the ruling party for the development of their localities.

Concurring, Alhaji Baba Abdulai of Pantang said "There is nothing like partisanship in the assembly." He observed that chiefs, who many believe, should not participate in active politics are part of district assemblies, hence asking assemblies to go partisan will deny assemblies of the crucial role chiefs play at that level.

A number of contributors, however, called for reforms that will lead to some form of remuneration for assembly members.

Bossman Ofori Amanfo, Headteacher of Abokobi Presby Junior High School, said assembly members should be paid monthly salaries to serve as a source of motivation, arguing that the assembly members "are poor, we should help them."

Author: Frederick Asiamah/Public Agenda

SIAKON MEDIA

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