General News of Sunday, 1 December 2019
Source: www.ghanaweb.com
2019-12-01
President Akufo-Addo will be addressing the nation
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo will be addressing Ghanaians on the much-talk about referendum which will be held on December 17, 2019.
The referendum will determine whether Article 55(3) of the 1992 Constitution should be amended for political parties to sponsor candidates for local level elections.
The outcome of the referendum will have either of the following outcomes: If the electorate votes YES, the election of MMDCEs, Assembly and Unit Committee Members will be on a partisan basis.
If they vote NO, then the election of theMMDCEs, Assembly and Unit Committee Members will be on a non-partisan basis, as being practised now.
Arguments surrounding Referendum
The referendum has sharply divided the country with the Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference calling for a postponement.
Vice-President of the Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference (GCBC), Most Rev. Charles Palmer-Buckle, has said given the current poisoned political environment there was a need to postpone the December 17 referendum.
“We the Bishops are appealing to the Government and the Electoral Commission to postpone the Referendum since it would not cause any Constitutional crisis,” Archbishop Palmer-Buckle said at the Jubilee House recently.
Traditional leaders, on the other hand, are also divided on the referendum after the Chairman of the Governance Committee of the National House of Chiefs; Ogyeahoho Yaw Gyebi II disclosed that the posture of the House for a NO vote did not represent the concerted views of the chiefs.
Due to the opinions surrounding the referendum, the Minister for Regional Reorganization and Development, Dan Kwaku Botwe called for broader consultation.
Many have also called on the President to postpone the referendum but some lawyers are arguing that the President has no such powers to postpone or call off the referendum.
It is not clear what the President will tell Ghanaians, but speculations are that the President is likely to announce a postponement of the entire exercise.
Watch the President’s address below
