Cancel ‘wasteful’ referendum – Group to Govt

“The over 60 years of Ghana’s independence has seen the detrimental effects of party politics in our nation, and as such we need not make it worse by expanding the activities of political parties into the local governance structure,” that is the contention of a group calling itself Crusaders against Corruption Ghana.

The group has questioned the importance of the upcoming December 17, 2019 referendum, when over $6 million dollars from the taxpayer was invested in the work of the Constitution Review Commission from the period of January 2010 to December 2011 to engage Ghanaians on this matter.

In a statement signed by Mr Emmanuel Wilson Jnr., Chief Crusader, said: a “thorough and extensive consultation with the rank and file of Ghanaians on the question of partisan local government”, the made certain observations thus: “As a result of the corruption in Ghana’s body politic, partisan politics in local elections may lead to the erosion of popular support for local assemblies; where local elections are held on a partisan basis, nomination rules determined and deployed by national parties can serve as impediments to accountability. This also weakens local government systems; in jurisdictions where political parties play a role in the elections at the local level, without clear rules that stipulate the inclusion of certain disadvantaged or minority segments of society, the system may easily engender dominance by majority groups, more powerful social groups and persons who have enough money to spread around for the purpose of attracting votes”.

It noted: “As a nation, we must be seen to be building an effective and efficient public administration system in each municipality or district for the betterment of every citizen, not just engaging in divisive partisan politics”.

Commenting further on Anopa Kasapa on Kasapa 102.5 FM, Emmanuel Wilson Jnr maintained “re-inventing the wheel that has already been invented” is meaningless and hence, the referendum ought to be canceled or put on hold.