NALAG calls for postponement of December 17 referendum

The General Secretary of the National Association of Local Authorities of Ghana (NALAG) Mr Kokro Amankwah has called for postponement of the upcoming December 17 elections and referendum.

According to him, majority of Ghanaians have not been reached and informed on the referendum to make an informed decision and it will be prudent to postpone the date for the referendum to get many Ghanaians well educated to enable them make an informed decision.

He was speaking in an interview with the Media at a programme organized by NALAG to sensitize market women on the upcoming December 17 referendum at Koforidua in the Eastern Region.

The programme which was attended by market women from Suhum, Jamapo, Koforidua and its environs was part of NALAG National sensitization programme and engagement with key stakeholders on the December 17 referendum.

Mr Amankwah said, Ghanaians have matured enough to elect their Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives on political lines this he said is the way to brake the winner takes-all syndrome. .

He said , research indicate that none of the district assembly elections conducted so far recorded 40 per cent of registered voters whilst often over 70 per cent of registered voters often vote in the presidential elections.

Mr Amankwah said this reveals that when political parties are involved in elections they mobilize political support to get the needed voter turnout during elections.

Delivering her closing remarks, the chairperson of the programme, President of the Koforidua Central Market Women Association (CMWA) Ms Florence Oteng Okyere urged all market women to vote yes in the December 17 referendum to enable them elect MMDCEs on partisan lines.

According to her yes vote will bring consistent development in various communities as the MMCEs will be accountable to the local people and not the President as it holds now.

Ms Felicia Mensah, a plantain seller at the Koforidua central market in an interview with the Ghana News Agency(GNA) commend NALAG for the education on the referendum because that was her first time of hearing about the referendum.