Six women contest assembly elections in Agona West
Only six women out of 74 candidates, representing 8.1 per cent, are contesting the District Assembly Elections in the Agona West Municipality.
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The Agona West Municipal Director of the Electoral Commission (EC), Mr Anobil Forson, made this known to the media at a five-day training programme for electoral officers at Agona Swedru.
He expressed regret that out of the 31 electoral areas in the municipality, only six women were competing in the district assembly elections thus allowing the men to dominate in the elections
Major roles of women
Mr Forson was of the view that it would be better for women to play major roles in the district-level elections since it was non-partisan, to enable them to participate in the decision-making processes in their localities.
He also called on various women organisations to help champion the cause of women in the assembly elections.
Speaking about the training workshop, Mr Forson said three centres had been established at Agona Swedru, Agona Nyakrom and Bobikuma, where 414 verification officers, and polling officers (POs) were being trained.
He also said each centre had 138 officers who were being sensitised to the new rules and regulations governing the assembly elections, after the Supreme Court postponed the elections early this year.
He asked political party leaders not to get involved in the district-level elections because the law did not allow that.
Training officers
Mr Forson cautioned the training officers against being complacent in their work, adding that any least mistake could create trouble for the whole exercise and tarnish the image of the commission.
He also said Ghanaians wished to see credible, free and fair elections, and expressed the hope that the officers would be well prepared to face the challenges ahead.
The district-level elections will be held on September 1, 2015 in all the 216 metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies.