Let’s ensure incident-free district level elections today

Voters in the 261 Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) in the country will be going to the polls today to elect assembly and unit committee members in line with the decentralisation policy to bring governance closer to the people.

Indeed, the MMDAs are the fulcrum of the country’s local and decentralisation governance.

The District Level Elections (DLEs) are in accordance with the Local Government Act, 1993 (Act 462), which provides for the election of assembly members to MMDAs.

Section 5(3) of Act 462 states: “Elections to a district assembly shall be held once every four years, at least six months before or after a general election of Members of Parliament."

Section 6 (1) of Act 462 also provides that for a person to qualify to be elected as a member of a district assembly, the person must be a citizen of Ghana above 18 years, a registered voter, ordinarily resident in the district they are seeking election, and also be a taxpayer.

The DLEs are critical as they serve as the vehicle through which members of the community elect qualified persons to provide quality leadership for development at the local level.

 It is also a means of providing the human resources needed to consolidate the gains made in the decentralisation and local governance system.

The elections at the local level are also crucial because over the years, they have helped to groom quality leaders for governance at the national level.

Indeed, some of our political leaders cut their teeth in politics by serving as assembly members and rose through the system.

This is why we believe that the electorate must take keen interest in today’s polls to decide the fate of over 66,257 persons contesting the various positions.

Although local-level elections present the most practicable opportunity for citizens to participate actively in selecting their local representatives to the various MMDAs and contribute to local government decision-making, they have also gained notoriety for apathy and disinterest.

Statistics from the Electoral Commission (EC) indicate that there are 18,755 assembly member candidates and 47,502 unit committee member candidates seeking election in 6,215 electoral areas.

Over the years, the DLEs have recorded a very low turnout, with the EC putting the average at 30 per cent.

This low patronage of the local-level elections point to a lack of interest in the polls by members of the public, a development that arises from poor sensitisation and awareness creation by the mandated state agencies, especially the EC and the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE).

Fortunately, there has been some public education across the country by the EC and the NCCE.

The Daily Graphic believes the public education this time around, coupled with the rallies and floats organised by some aspirants as well as the door-to-door campaigns, should whip up people’s interest for higher participation in the polls today.

The Daily Graphic is of the firm belief that if we are to get our act right in terms of leadership at the national level, we must pay more attention to the elections at the local level.

This calls for the need to pay more attention to the election of assembly and unit committee members because they provide leadership at the basic units of the governance structure.

Many schools of thought have underscored the need for the government to revist the issue of electing Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chef Executives to coincide with the election of assembly and unit committee members.

 Such an arrangement will be an innovative way of whipping up interest in the DLEs.

It is our hope that our security agencies will also get their act together to collaborate with the EC to ensure an incident-free election today.

We do not anticipate any violence at the polls but it is always better to prepare and cushion oneself against any uncertainty.

We urge all the aspirants and their supporters to conduct themselves in a manner that will not bring the elections into disrepute.

 The aspirants must position themselves to accept the outcome of the elections since there will certainly be winners and losers.