Election of MMDCEs must be apolitical

A former assembly member for the Banwon Electoral Area in Lambussie District has backed the proposal to elect Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs) but is advising that the move should be non-partisan.

The ruling New Patriotic Party is preparing both legal and administrative grounds for the election of MMDCEs by 2021 as part of the government’s pledge to deepening Ghana’s decentralization process.

The ex-assembly member, David Mwinfor Deriba, has urged state actors to institute adequate structures for the smooth conduct of the polls without any shred of partisan politics that could defeat the intended purpose.

In a statement copied to the Ghana News Agency on Friday, he said it should be in conformity with the current local government elections.

He added that if the voting of MMDCES took a partisan dimension, it would amount to “doing the same thing” like the present system where the appointment of Chief Executives was fraught with partisan politics.

Hajia Alima Mahama, the Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, has stepped up the consultation and sensitization process since the beginning of this year to fire up support for “Yes” vote in a referendum expected to be held in 2019.

This is in fulfilment of a campaign promise made by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo in the 2016 elections.