Sheikh Shaibu addressing journalists in an interview
The Coalition of Domestic Election Observers (CODEO) has outlined a series
of electoral support interventions geared towards the successful conduct of the
2019 district levels election and national referendum on December 17.
The interventions which include civic education activities and
recruitment of 1,000 observers on election day for the electoral processes are
in line with the coalition’s objective of promoting transparency, credible
electoral outcomes and participatory electoral process.
At a press launch of the electoral support intervention on Tuesday, which
also marked the opening of a workshop for CODEO civic educators in the Greater
Accra Region, the acting Chairperson of CODEO, Sheikh Armiyawo Shaibu, disclosed
that 260 civic educators have been engaged in each district to work with
communities.
“The coalition has conducted series of training workshop for its
educators from 15 out of 16 regions in the country,” he said.
Sheikh Shaibu also maintained that CODEO as a neutral observation
group has no position on the referendum question and only seeks to complement
effort of other stakeholders and state institutions in boosting understanding
and participation of voters.
Present at the launch was the Chairperson of the National Commission
for Civic Education (NCCE), Josephine Nkrumah, who lamented the high level of
apathy associated with district level elections.
“And it beats my mind because that is the most important election
which affords every citizen a part to participate in decision-making. Sadly, we
don’t see civic interest today. We are more interested in the parliamentary and
presidential elections,” she said.
The deepening of democracy in the country, she advised, should go
beyond the December 17 elections, as practising democracy is an everyday
process that requires citizens to re-orient themselves to make democracy more
meaningful.
“It is not about election in every four years. Democracy is about
participation and inclusion in decision-making every day,” she said.
She appealed to educators to work hard at ensuring that the target
for a 40 per cent turnout of the voter population is achieved in order to make
the campaign efforts of the NCCE towards the December 17 election successful.
By Issah Mohammed
