'Voters must be educated’

National Women’s Organiser of Progressive People’s Party (PPP), Miss. Berlinda Bulley, has underscored the need for the Ghanaian electorate to be educated on why they form a long queue every four years to elect a president and parliamentarians to govern the country.

She expressed her disquiet about the way majority of Ghanaians vote describing it as “democratic ignorance.”

The high illiteracy rate in the country which is pegged around 48%, she said, should not be justification for how people vote without taking into consideration policies and programmes a party intends to bring on board when voted into power.

“It’s quite unfortunate the way our people [electorate] vote in every general election. Clearly, they don’t care about what happens after the elections provided their party or favourite candidate wins power,” she explained.

Miss. Bulley made these observations over the weekend on Ghana, Great and Strong, a flagship programme on Ghana’s premier internet-based radio station, www.hedjorleonline.com in Accra.

The programme is aired every Saturday from 7:00P.M., – 8:00P.M., and is hosted by Dr. Papa Kwesi Nduom.

The PPP national women’s organiser could not fathom why people vote for “incompetent and inexperienced” leaders to govern the country.

According to her, until the electorate in Ghana change their style of voting which she said is mostly based on party and tribal lines, Ghana cannot witness the needed economic transformation it is has been yearning for all these years.

“It is important our people vote per the prevailing living conditions in the country and not along party or tribal line,” she added. The danger involved in not voting based on policies and programmes, Miss. Bulley said, is detrimental to any democratic society like “ours.”

Other panellists on the show including Nii Armah Nkunim and William Dowokpor all called on Ghanaian voters to really “open” their eyes when casting their ballots as their votes represent their power.

Voting on issues, they emphasised is an important ingredient in a democracy and hence advised Ghanaian voters to select people to run the country based on their competencies and not on tribal or monetary lines.

Dr. Nduom also expressed the need for the enlightenment of the Ghanaian electorate.