Vote for candidates with competence — NCCE
The Yilo Krobo District office of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) has organised a civic education programme at Obawale in Upper Yilo with to promote the rights and duties of voters.
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The training, which centered on the forthcoming district assembly and unit committee elections, was conducted through focus group discussions and a durbar that was held in the community.
At the end of the discussions, the groups were of the view that low turnout during district assembly and unit committee elections could be attributed to false promises made by aspiring assembly members, the seeming partisan nature of campaigns that were conducted and lack of effective public education on the part of NCCE, among others.
The groups also advised that women and the physically challenged should be encouraged to contest in the elections.
In an address at the durbar, the Eastern Regional Director of the NCCE, Mr Alex Sackey, urged the electorate to elect competent and unassuming candidates as assembly and unit committee members in March this year.
Mr Sackey explained that assembly members were representatives of their electoral areas and were therefore supposed to be in constant touch with the people whose views they presented to the general assembly for action.
He said since various areas in the communities were developed through the district assemblies, it was pertinent that the right people who could table their concerns were elected to represent them in the assembly.
He attributed the low voter turnout to inactive and unresponsive assembly members who did not communicate what transpired at assembly meetings to their constituents.
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The Regional Director said the district assembly and unit committee elections were non-partisan and, therefore, cautioned against the use of party T-shirts and slogans in the presentation of campaign messages.
Contestants for the district assembly elections were, at the end of the programme, introduced to the gathering and were presented with abridged versions of the constitution to enable them to acquaint themselves with rules guiding the district assembly elections.
A drama troupe from the Somanya Secondary Technical School (SOTEC), put up a sketch that demonstrated the need for the district assembly and unit committee elections to be non-partisan.