Voter apathy, setback to democratic dev’t – NCCE Director

The level of voter apathy and lack of interest in the District Level Elections (DLEs) by the electorate, is a setback to the development of democratic governance in the country.

Mr. Philip Kombat, the Asunafo North Municipal Director of the National Commission on Civic Education (NCCE), made the observation during a community durbar at Kasapin in the Brong-Ahafo Region.

The durbar, organised by the Municipal Office of NCCE, was to whip up the interest of the electorate to participate fully in the impending DLE slated for March 3.

The programme formed part of a project, with financial support from the European Union, and sought among others, to ensure sanity on campaign platforms and peaceful and violent-free elections.

Mr. Kombat stressed that lack of interest in the DLE, especially among females in the Municipality, was very low, explaining that in the upcoming DLE, out of 79 aspiring Assembly Members , only four are females, whilst only 22 females are among 269 candidates contesting the Unit Committee positions.

He implied that the relatively smaller percentage of female participation in the elections would make the composition of the next Assembly and Unit Committees male-dominated, lamenting that “if care is not taken, issues concerning women will be relegated to the background”.

Mr. Kombat, therefore, urged women to attend community meetings and participate in decision making at the local level so that their concerns could be addressed.

He stressed that women should not sit back and allow their male counterparts to take decisions all the time for the entire populace, pointing out that such situation could always make women marginalized in society.