ALLOW GREATER PARTICIPATION IN DISTRICT LEVEL ELECTIONS (SPREAD, JAN 12, 2010)

Suggestions have been made at a two-day consultative workshop on the country’s electoral process for a wider participation in the provision of campaign platforms for candidates of the district level elections.
The Electoral Commission (EC) had previously centrally provided such platforms for district level elections and the suggestions are for that activity to be liberalised so that other bodies can provide platforms and to organise public fora for candidates to complement the efforts of the EC.
Those suggestions were made at a validation workshop on the “Legal and institutional framework for District Level Election” in Koforidua.
It was organised by the EC, facilitated by the KAB Governance Consult (KGC) and co-funded by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA).
Participants came up with several recommendations that were aimed at addressing the various challenges that had confronted the running of district level elections since 1998, particularly those of 2002 and 2006.
The recommendations, when adopted and given a legal backing, are expected to improve the efficiency and effectiveness in the conduct of district level elections in 2010 and in subsequent elections.
The workshop validated the recommendations that came out of the nationwide public fora in all the 10 regional capitals from October 15 to November 8, 2002 that collated ideas for a possible institutional and legislative reform to enhance district level elections in the country.
“While the amendment of relevant legislation and regulation in the mounting of platforms will be undertaken, the EC will also have to develop guidelines to facilitate the conduct of such public fora to ensure that there is decorum, equity and suitable access of all candidates,” the forum recommended.
It also came up with the recommendation that stressed the need to determine or review the number of elected members of the various unit committees, proposing that only five people be elected at the unit committee level.
However, the forum considered the issue of the appointment of members at the unit committee level to be left to the discretion of the government, as such a consideration had to be guided by the need to maintain gender balance, among others.
The forum also recommended the need for the rebranding of unit committees to foster a sense of neighbourliness, identification in terms of development and other vital services in the communities.
With regard to the appointment of district chief executives (DCE) and presiding members (PM), it recommended the need for a simple majority of all members of a district assembly to confirm the appointment of a DCE or a PM, instead of the current provision of two-third voting for the confirmation of such appointees.
The workshop was attended by top officials of the EC, including Mr Kwadwo Afari-Gyan, the Electoral Commissioner; Mr Joseph Yieleh Chireh, the Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, members of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Local Government, the executive of the National Association of Local Authorities (NALAG), representatives of the Institute of Local Government Studies (ILGS) and decentralisation experts.