{"id":942,"date":"2017-06-30T18:51:37","date_gmt":"2017-06-30T18:51:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.aptnewsgh.com\/?p=942"},"modified":"2017-06-30T18:51:37","modified_gmt":"2017-06-30T18:51:37","slug":"ghana-likely-go-referendum-district-chief-executive-election-proposals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aptnewsghana.com\/index.php\/2017\/06\/30\/ghana-likely-go-referendum-district-chief-executive-election-proposals\/","title":{"rendered":"Ghana likely to go for referendum on District Chief Executive election proposals"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Ghanaians could be heading to the polls before 2019 to decide if the election of District Chief Executives is to be partisan or non-partisan.<\/p>\n

Deputy Local Government minister Osei Bonsu Amoah told Multi TV’s AM Show Friday, a committee has been tasked to start a nationwide tour on which of the two options to choose.<\/p>\n

The decision to make the position of District Chief Executive elective is part of the NPP government’s campaign promises.<\/p>\n

The government has set September 2019 deadline for the realization of the campaign promise.<\/p>\n

Osei Bonsu Amoah stressed the question for government remains whether the elections should be partisan or otherwise.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf the people of Ghana want the Chief Executives to be elected in a partisan way then it means we should draw a programme for a referendum because the provision on the assemblies being nonpartisan is entrenched\u201d.<\/p>\n

According to section 7, subsection 1 of Act 462, \u2018a candidate seeking election to a District Assembly or to a lower local government unit shall personally appear before the electorate as an individual, and shall not use a symbol associated with a political party.\u2019<\/p>\n

Section 7, subsection 2 of Act 462 unequivocally cautions, inter alia: \u2018a political party shall not endorse, sponsor, offer a platform to or in any other way campaign for or against a candidate seeking election to a District Assembly or to a lower local government unit\u2019.<\/p>\n

In the case of a referendum, a voter turn-out of t least 40% \u00a0of the electorates is needed with at least 70% of the votes endorsing a partisan local government system.<\/p>\n

Alternatively, he says, if the option is non-partisan then a straight forward parliamentary process is needed to effect changes in the system of local government.<\/p>\n

The Akuapim South MP explained that the ballot paper for local government elections will have unit committee members, assembly members and the latest addition, the DCE.<\/p>\n

It will mean Ghanaians now vote for five public office holders – unit committee members, an assemblyman, a DCE, an MP and a president.<\/p>\n

While Ghana’s laws forbid partisanship in local government elections, the flouting of the law is an open secret.<\/p>\n

Political parties mainly the NPP and NDC provide covert support for their candidates in District Assembly elections in order to maintain a hold in an area’s grassroot politics.<\/p>\n

Proponents of a partisan local government system\u00a0argue that it\u00a0extremely impossible to adhere to the neutrality principles because \u2018man is a political animal\u2019.<\/p>\n

Defenders of the status quo say the non-partisan method of electing officers to local governments fosters communal unity and cohesion.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, about 200 Chief Executives across the country are set to take part in a 5-day induction programme beginning next Monday.<\/p>\n

The Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development expects to take the chief executives through the new local government act passed\u00a0last year.<\/p>\n

Deputy Local Government Minister Osei Bonsu Amoah also expects the chief executives to share challenges they have experienced barely two months on the job.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Credit:myjoyonline.com<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Ghanaians could be heading to the polls before 2019 to decide if the election of District Chief Executives is to be partisan or non-partisan. 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