A government oversight group, Governance Watch Ghana (GWG), has called on Ghanaians to reject the proposed amendment in local governance by voting “No” in the impending referendum.
According to the group, introducing partisan politics into local governance will cause same divisiveness associated with political activities at the national stage.
“Considering the acrimonious nature of politics at the national stage which results in divisiveness, we are of the view that, considering the communal nature of our localities, and the bond that exists between Assembly Members and their electoral areas are not jeopardised with the introduction of partisanship in that critical area of our governance systems.”
Airing their views in a press statement released today, signed by its executive director, Stephen Kwabena Attuh, and copied to ghananewsonline.com.gh, the group noted that, the current local governance system is purely based on merit and capabilities of individuals. They argued that introducing partisanship will shift attention from individual capabilities to interests of political parties.
“The system, in its current form, has seen individuals, based on their own merits, stand for elections and get elected by their electoral areas for what they are able to do for them. Introducing partisanship in this area would draw on the political interests of political parties rather than focusing on a candidates who can best address the challenges of the people in our localities.”
The GWG asserted that partisan politics at the national stage has harmed Ghana’s development by plundering citizens into joblessness and hardships due to party affiliation. Hence, the need to keep local governance free of political party influence.
“We are of the firm belief that, considering our current state as a nation with regards to politics, which had resulted in the loss of jobs by innocent citizens for the offense of the political parties they simply belong to, should not be deployed to the local levels.”
They therefore urged Ghanaians to vote “NO” at the impending December 17 referendum in order to “consolidate the bond that exists in our communities at the District Assembly level”.
Source: Jonas Akyen Danquah || ghananewsonline.com.gh