By
Eric Appah Marfo, GNA
Accra, Nov 12, GNA –
Hajia Alima Mahama, the Minister for Local Government and Rural Development,
has expressed surprise at the sudden shift of position by the National Democratic
Congress (NDC), regarding the upcoming referendum on political parties
participation in the district level election.
The NDC has
suddenly, publicly declared that it would be campaigning to get the people to
vote no in the December 17 referendum.
The Minister said
this was something she found shocking, considering the fact that, the party had
agreed by consensus in parliament that article 55 (3) should be amended to
allow the election of Metropolitan and Municipal District Chief Executives
(MMDCEs) on partisan bases.
The U-turn, with a
little over a month left for the referendum to happen was therefore strange and
she called for the people to vote overwhelmingly‘Yes”.
The NDC at a press
conference in Accra on Tuesday urged Ghanaians to vote against the proposed
amendment of Article 55 (3), which will make local government elections
partisan.
Article 55 (3)
states that “subject to the provisions of this article, a political party is
free to participate in shaping the political will of the people, to disseminate
information on political ideas, social and economic programmes of a national
character and sponsor candidates for elections to any public office other than
to District Assemblies or lower local government units.’’
Mr. Samuel Ofosu
Ampofo, the Party’s Chairman, said they wanted the local government system to
remain non-partisan and that individuals should contest the district assembly
and unit committee elections on their own merit.
They had therefore
decided to campaign for a “NO” vote at the referendum.
“The consequence of
exporting this polarization into the District Assemblies is that very soon in
our villages, there will be “NDC communal labour day” and “NPP communal labour
day”.
“There will also be
‘NDC market’ and ‘NPP market’ and so on and so forth.”
He added that
amendment of Article 55, would lead to several pitfalls, which he said the
government was yet to consider.
They would want to
see the proposed amendment subjected to intense public discussion.
“Without the needed
clarity, confusion would arise out of the referendum. This is the problem Great
Britain has had to grapple with since the Brexit referendum,” he stated.
Hajia Mahama,
reacting to the NDC press conference, however, found it difficult to
rationalize why the sudden change, having earlier agreed that the said article
should be amended.
“The Minority agreed
by consensus on July 29. They said they were hesitant to amend article 243 (1)
because they wanted to have the referendum so that MMDCEs could be elected on
partisan basis so it is important we go for the referendum, get 55 (3) amended
before we amend 243 (1). However, we were of the view that article 243 (1)
should be first amended before holding the referendum,” she said.
She said the
argument by the NDC that the government should bring article 243 (1) to
parliament for amendment was not well-grounded because that article had already
been taken to the House. The process started last year, and it had now reached
the voting stage.
She said even though
the Constitution empowered the President to appoint MMDCES, he had called for
the referendum to promote democracy at the local level.
GNA
