EC volunteers threaten to boycott district level elections over unpaid allowances

Some volunteers, who were engaged by the Electoral Commission (EC) during the voter exhibition exercise last September, are yet to receive their allowance, DailymailGh.com can report.

The officers have threatened to boycott the upcoming district level and unit committee elections slated for December 17, 2019.

The volunteers were deployed to supervise the exhibition exercise on behalf of the Commission last September.

The volunteers, however, say they are yet to receive their allowances after four months.

Some of the election officials have placed calls to threaten the EC, DailymailGh can report.

In Kumasi, some of the aggrieved recruits told DailymailGh.com at a workshop that they will be picketing the Ashanti Regional office of the Electoral Commission to demand their monies (running into hundreds of cedis).

“We feel shortchanged. At least they should speak to us. We submitted our account numbers to the EC but nothing has hit our account”, one of the aggrieved volunteers told DailymailGh’s Jonathan Ofori, on condition of strict anonymity.

The development comes at a time the Election Management Body prepares to hold the district level elections —following the cancellation of the controversial referendum.

The EC was hoping to organise three separate elections on December 17 including the referendum which sought to seek the approval of Ghanaians to amend Article 55(3) of the 1992 Constitution to allow political parties to sponsor candidates for local level elections.

But President Nana Akufo-Addo cancelled the referendum and also directed for the withdrawal of the Article 55 (3) Amendment Bill from Parliament as well as Article 243 (1) which was to allow Ghanaians to vote for their Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs).

About the Assembly Elections

The District Assembly and Unit Committee elections come off on Tuesday, December 17, 2019.

On the said day, the Electoral Commission will conduct two elections consisting of Assembly Members and Unit Committee Members.

The elections of the Assembly Members and the Unit Committee Members form the critical core of the country’s decentralisation process.

They help in exercising political and administrative authority in the various Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies, provide guidance, give direction to, and supervise the other administrative authorities in local assemblies.

Source: Jonathan Ofori, Daily Mail GH