NALAG not happy with conduct of District Level Election

Apam (C/R), Dec 30, GNA - The President of the National Association of Local Authorities of Ghana (NALAG), Mr Theophilus Aidoo-Mensah, has expressed concern about the conduct of the on-going District Level Elections.

Speaking to the Ghana News Agency after monitoring the elections in some districts in the Central Region, Mr Aidoo-Mensah said he found it difficult to believe that it was the reputed Electoral Commission of Ghana headed by the world acclaimed Dr Kodwo Afari Gyan which is in charge of the election. He appealed to the government to institute a presidential commission t= o investigate the abysmal performance of the EC to avoid recurrence in 2012 general election.

Mr Aidoo-Mensah said the EC came out at the 11th hour to announce that the District Level Election scheduled for December 28 would be held in only two regions, the Central and the Upper West regions, on the scheduled date and assured that voting materials for the two regions were ready. He said the story was different when the election took off in the Central Region.

He said the monitoring exercise he took revealed that 20 polling stations in Gomoa West did not get voting materials, eight polling stations in Gomoa East, 20 in the Mfantseman East and 37 in the Mfantseman West did not get ballot papers for the Unit Committee Elections. Elections had to be called off in those polling stations with the officials and security personnel engaged to supervise the conduct sent home disappointed.

Mr Aidoo-Mensah, who is the District Chief Executive for Gomoa West, said some national exercises involving printing of questionnaire conducted by the government faced problems. He said questionnaires for the National Identification Exercise and th= e 2010 Population and Housing Census were supplied in bits by the printers, thus frustrating these important national exercises.

Mr Aidoo-Mensah appealed to the EC to ensure that voting in the remaining regions did not suffer the fate of what happened in the Central Region. He said District Level Elections held the key to the success of decentralization and when these polls are not properly organised there woul= d be problems with implementation of the policy.

Mr Aidoo-Mensah appealed to the EC to maintain its reputation at all times to ensure that the credibility of elections it conducted were not in doubt.