Shai Osudoku Assembly holds town hall meeting to enlighten citizenry on referendum

The Shai Osudoku District Assembly has held two special town hall meetings on the upcoming District level Elections and referendum, to enlighten the public on the December 17 referendum and also to whip up interest in the election in a bid to rally the people towards achieving a higher voter participation during the exercise.

Traditional authorities, security agencies, Heads of Department, representatives of political parties, students, traders, youth groups, among others, partook in the meetings held at Asutuare and Dodowa on the theme, “Delivering a ‘YES’ vote in the upcoming referendum to take local governance to another level of dispensation”.

The District Chief Executive for Shai Osudoku, Mr Daniel Akuffo who underscored the relevance of the special town hall meetings on Tuesday 19th and Thursday, 21st November 2019, said the key agenda for the exercise was to educate the citizenry on the upcoming referendum.

Explaining the purpose of the referendum, Mr. Akuffo said parliament was in the process of rectifying article 243 (1) of the constitution which gives a sitting president the mandate to appoint Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives, adding that its amendment will empower the electorate with the privilege to elect MMDCEs.

The referendum on the other hand, he explained, will therefore offer the citizenry the opportunity to determine whether local government elections should be conducted on partisan basis by voting ‘Yes’ or ‘no’ for the proposed amendment of Article 55(3) of the 1992 Constitution.

He added, that the NCCE was also involved in the activity to enable the commission educate the citizenry on the exercise with the use of information centers and vans as well as visits to churches and mosques to create awareness and education on the upcoming referendum.

The MCE said it was time to elect MMDCEs just as the president and MPs are elected in order to make them more accountable to the people.

“We think that looking at our political history and electoral history, we’ve realized that the president is being elected through the ballot and our members of parliament are being elected through the ballot and we think that the local authority being headed by the MMDCEs and assembly members, we think that electing MMDCEs will make them more responsible,” he said.

On his part, District Coordinating Director for Shai Osudoku, Mr. Paul Mac Ofori urged the citizenry to commit themselves to the voting process and exercise their franchise very well.

He gave the assurance that more education on the referendum will be held in the district to ensure that the citizenry were well informed about the process.

Mr. Ofori also charged the people to contribute their quota to the development of the Shai Osudoku District by honouring their tax obligations to the district and also took the opportunity to urge the people to participate more in community engagements in the district.

The District Electoral Officer, Mr. Eric Ampadu Pabi who described the exercise as a civic responsibility, called on the people to go to the polls on the appointed date.

Mr. Ampadu in his presentation on the purpose of the referendum on December 17, 2019 indicated that local government election did not allow political parties to endorse, sponsor and offer a platform to or in any way campaign for or organize a candidate seeking election to a District Assembly or any local government unit.

He said mostly electorate were not interested in District Level Elections, forgetting that it was the place by-laws were made.

He reminded them that Article 55(3) for the referendum is different from Article 243(1) for the election of MMDCES as such they should educate their people on the referendum on District Assembly and Unit-Committee elections and leave Article 243(1) to parliament.

The District Electoral Officer explained that political parties can partake in all public elections including local government elections, that is election of Assembly and Unit Committee Members if the electorate vote ‘yes’ to the referendum.

District Director of the Shai Osudoku National Commission on Civic Education, Madam Janet Wahiermeh took participants through the voting process.

The NCCE director who underscored the importance of participating in the referendum said more than fifty of similar engagements had already been held in the district.

Asked what will be done to further raise awareness about the exercise, she gave the assurance that more of such activities will be held in the churches, markets, information centers and with identifiable groups to create and enhance the required awareness.

She announced that the official colour assigned by Electoral Commission for the referendum was Yellow for “YES” and Dark brown for “NO.”

Nene (Dr.) Tei Djahene Korabo I, Chief of Manya and Senior Asafoatse of the Shai State together with his associates called for a “Yes’ vote in the upcoming referendum.

The chief argued that a partisan election at the district level elections will enhance multiparty governance at that level since other parties, which otherwise did not have the chance to win national elections, will stand the chance of winning elections at the local level.

Spelling out the importance of the referendum, Mrs Cornelia Asante-Obeng who is the District Information Officer said the exercise was aimed at ensuring that accountability of local government authorities would be made affordable and have the opportunity to participate effectively in governance.

The referendum, she added, was also to aid development through the execution of key projects and programmes in the medium term development plans.

“Let’s us all come out in our numbers to vote and approve the Article 55(3) of the amendment law”, she said.

The DLEs and the referendum will concurrently take place on 17th December and afford voters the opportunity to decide on their assembly and unit committee members as well as a “YES” or “NO” vote on article 55 (3) which is an entrenched provision of the 1992 constitution.

Article 55(3) states that Subject to the provisions of this article, a political party is free to participate in shaping the political will of the people, to disseminate information on political ideas, social and economic programmes of a national character and sponsor candidates for elections to any public office other than to District Assemblies or lower government units.

The referendum requires that 40 percent of the total registered voters turn out to vote out of which 75 percent must vote in favour of the amendment to allow political parties to participate in the District Level Elections.