Help educate electorate on district elections - NCCE chairperson tells media
The chairperson of the National Commission for Civic education (NCCE) has asked the media to take keen interest in educating the public to actively participate in the upcoming District Level Elections.
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Mrs Charlotte Osei was speaking at the launch of the theme song for educating the public in Accra yesterday.
She said although the district assembly elections were meant to bring governance closer to the grass roots as they offered the opportunity to elect assembly and unit committee members, the turnout had been decreasing over the years.
Mrs Osei said the turnout during the last district assembly elections was about 30 per cent nationwide.
She described that as not encouraging, adding that the development of any nation started from the grass roots and ,therefore, the district assemblies had to be taken seriously.
To turn around the situation, the NCCE boss said, “We need the media to specifically work with the NCCE to educate the citizens on the significance of the district level elections.”
The elections, which are slated for March 3, 2015, are aimed at electing district assembly and unit committee members who will champion the cause of development in the various assemblies.
“If we want true accountability, progress and development in our communities, then our attention must be focused on the district assemblies,” she said.
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She said this was the more reason why the media had to intervene by creating awareness of the importance of district assembly elections.
She explained that the various groups in the assemblies such as women, the disabled and pressure groups needed to educate their members since they were recognised groups within their communities.
Mrs Osei said the theme song for this year’s education had been translated into different languages for easy understanding and encouraged the electronic media to consistently play it on their respective platforms to arouse public interest.
Significance of district assemblies
A representative of the Commonwealth Secretariat, Mr Roger Oppong Koranteng, stressed the need to intensify the education, especially in the urban centres.
He said those in the rural areas were usually more interested in the district assembly elections and participated fully in the related activities as compared to those in the cities.
He said in the last district level elections, the Northern, Upper West and Upper East regions recorded voter turnout of 50.2 per cent, 56.86 per cent and 50.76 per cent respectively while Greater Accra recorded 18 per cent.
He observed that the role of the district assemblies should not be underestimated as they were the first point of contact towards ensuring growth and development in the assemblies and the nation as a whole.