Participate in District Assembly elections - NCCE urges women
The Birim Central Secretariat of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) in the Eastern Region is encouraging as many women as possible to participate in the forthcoming District Assembly elections.
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In that regard, the NCCE has organised a series of public fora sponsored by the European Union (EU) to educate all categories of women in the area on the functions and benefits of district assemblies in national development.
Addressing one of such fora at Akyem Oda Old Town Central Mosque last Friday, Mr Bismarck Yamoah, the Municipal Civic Education Officer of the NCCE, stressed that the District Assembly elections were non-partisan.
He said for that reason, no political party considerations should weigh on the minds of voters during voting.
Mr Yamoah stated that voters were required to vote purely on the capabilities and merits of the candidates.
“Voters should look out for the candidate’s suitability according to the electoral regulations and in terms of his actual potential contribution to the welfare of the community for which he/she is seeking election,” he stressed.
Mr Yamoah said voters were free to question the moral standing of candidates if they had facts to back their statements, adding that a candidate who was slandered had the right to go to court for redress.
He said assembly members were to maintain close contact with their electoral areas, consult their people on issues to be discussed in the district assembly and collect their views, opinions and proposals, and send them to the assembly.
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Assembly members, he said, were to meet the electorate before each meeting of the assembly and to report decisions of the assembly and its executive committees and the actions they had taken to solve problems raised by the residents in their electoral areas.
Mr Yamoah emphasised that assembly members were to take part in communal and development activities in the district and also maintain frequent liaison with organised productive economic groups and development activities in the district.
He explained that those who qualified as assembly members should be citizens of not less than 18 years of age, registered voters and ordinarily resident in the district in which they sought elections.
Mr Yamoah advised the electorate to vote for competent persons with disabilities who express interest in the district assembly elections.
Mrs Gifty Coker, the Municipal Peer Educator for Coalition of Domestic Election Observers (CODEO), in an address read on her behalf, said her outfit would sponsor all women and persons with disabilities who would be interested in the district assembly elections in the municipality.