Local government system to be made more functional, Afari-Gyan

Kumasi, Oct 28, GNA - Dr Kwadwo Afari-Gyan, Chairman of the Electoral Commission (EC), has said the review of statutes governing local governance was to make the local government system more functional. The EC has increased the number of electoral areas and drastically cut those of the Unit Committees from the 225,000 to 30,000. Dr Afari-Gyan was speaking at a media dialogue on the district level elections in Kumasi.

The Local Government and Rural Development Ministry, EC and KAB Consult, a non-governmental organization (NGO), organized the programme. It was held under the theme "Improving Citizen participation in the 2010 district level elections through enhanced knowledge." Dr Afari-Gyan said changes in the legal framework were inspired by the growth in population and establishment of new settlements over the past two decades.

He said there was the need to reform the district level and unit committee elections to make them attractive to the people. The EC Chairman called for stepping up of public education to whip up enthusiasm in the upcoming district level election. Mr Isaac Kofi Asomaning, the Ashanti Regional Electoral Officer, spoke of the resolve of the EC to continue to work with all stakeholders to introduce reforms and fine-tune the district assembly elections to sustain its relevance.