District Assembly system the backbone of Ghana’s democracy – Ofosu-Ampofo

The former National Chairman of the National Democratic Congress NDC, Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo has disclosed that the District Assembly System is currently holding Ghana’s democracy.

Speaking on Starr Chat with Bola Ray, the former National Chairman advised that political elites do all they can to protect the District Assembly System.

Mr. Ampofo clarified that he was against turning it into a political issue because political parties typically support their own candidates for those roles in the assembly.”

“Seriously opposed it, and I was one of the leading members who led the non-partisan posture of these assembly elections, and then forced the president to withdraw from the referendum. Because I’ve been a product of the assembly system, I can assure you that what is keeping this country now is our non-partisan assembly level.”

He also assured that what is keeping the country going is the non-partisan assembly level and explained some consequences of politicizing it.

“Look at the way the country’s politics is polarized. At the national level, at our legislature. The only strand of our political, you know, which is holding the country together is the non-partisan assembly. When you get to the assembly and the common fund comes and they are debating it, they don’t decide to send the toilet to a place because they are NPP or NDC. They don’t want to build a market because the people voted against or voted for it.

“So it (District Assembly) has held the country together. And the moment you attempt to politicize the local assembly and the district assembly level, what is going to happen is that if you are not careful, a market will be built and the market will be seen as an NPP market. People will not go there because it’s an NPP market. A toilet will be built and people will say that this is an NPP toilet, so if you are an NDC person, don’t come near it. That is dangerous”, Dr. Ampofo stated.

He also noted that currently, even at the parliamentary level, there is a high level of polarization, making it challenging to reach a consensus on policies and issues.

However, he believes that the current situation of a hung parliament has, in some ways, contributed to a more balanced system by providing checks and balances. Therefore, he personally thinks that rushing to politicize local governance would be detrimental to the country’s well-being.