Come out in numbers to vote today

The District-Level Elections (DLEs) have been attempts by the central government to devolve political and economic power to the people at the grass roots.

The decentralised system of governance also promotes participatory democracy and, by extension, helps reduce the authority of the central government over the resources of the country.

Ghana took decentralisation to another level in 1988 when the Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC) regime decided to implement an ambitious local governance system, leading to the election of assembly members with a four-year tenure.

But as a result of the transition from military rule to civilian administration in 1993, the state could not organise itself to keep to the four-year timetable, as the second DLE based on the 1992 Constitution was conducted in 1994.

The Constitution endorsed the previous arrangement of the election of two-thirds of the members, with one-third appointed by the government.

Ghana has put in place the necessary legislation to facilitate the efficient operation of the assemblies, including the setting up of the District Assemblies Common Fund (DACF) into which seven-and-a-half per cent of national revenue is allocated to be distributed to the assemblies according to a formula agreed upon by Parliament.

Today the country votes in the DLEs for the seventh time since 1988, but the elections have always been bedeviled by a low turnout.
This has been attributed to the non-partisan nature of the district assembly concept, while the communication that accompanies the process has always been very low key.

In the earlier days of the process, the Electoral Commission (EC) organised what was known as the “common platform” where the candidates came together to explain their plans to the electorate in their electoral areas.

This year, the EC and the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) have not done a lot to sensitise voters and so there is a refrain from some of the electorate who say they do not know the candidates and, therefore, they do not know who to vote for.

In the last election in 2011, the EC was not able to manage the polls well, resulting in what has become known as the ‘tot-tot’ voting when the polls were held on three different days.

No matter the challenges, including central government interference in the running of the assemblies, the assemblies have the potential to transform the local economy and the well-being of the people.

For this reason, the Daily Graphic calls on the electorate to turn up in their numbers to vote for their preferred candidates.

We appreciate the valid point that the electorate ought to know the candidates to buy into their platforms, but as local elections whose winners will be at the forefront of basic things such as sanitation and other basic facilities, it behoves all qualified people to exercise their civic rights and franchise to deepen decentralisation and, more especially, participatory democracy.