Day: December 15, 2023

A total of 43 aspirants are contesting the District Assembly elections in the Agotime-Ziope District of the Volta Region.

The district has 15 electoral areas, featuring 41 men and two women aspirants respectively.

Madam Josephine Botchway, the District Officer for the Electoral Commission, disclosed this to the Ghana News Agency.

The women are Madam Beatrice De-Gaulle of the Keyime electoral area and Madam Peace Gbafa of the Abehenease Electoral Area.

Madam Gbafa told the GNA that she intended to improve the area’s standard of living by lobbying for developmental projects.

She said sanitation, water, and education would be her top priorities, and she would work with the Assembly and non-governmental organisations to achieve her target.

Madam Gbafa said, Agotime-Wodome was experiencing acute water shortage and a broken borehole, forcing the locals to rely on an unsafe stream.

She said that there were places without light, such as portions of Ahiagbakope, Wodome, and Sukpalikope, which put the safety of
the locals in jeopardy.

She, therefore, promised to lead efforts at addressing the issues if given the nod and had since urged voters to support her.

Madam De-Gaulle, on the other hand, told the GNA that there were majority of farmers in her electoral area and that if elected, she would work with all appropriate government agencies and non-governmental organisations to give female farmers the assistance they required to boost their farming output.

Madam De-Gaulle said she would advocate financial support to help women in small businesses grow them and address teenage pregnancy in the area.
Source: Ghana News Agency

Mr. Albert Boakye Okyere, the Municipal Chief Executive Officer for Ashiaman Municipal Assembly, has dissolved the general assembly for Assembly Members of the 17 electoral areas as they approach the end of their tenure.

Alhaji Saaka Dramani, the Municipal Coordinating Director, who read the speech on behalf of the Chief Executive, expressed gratitude for the privilege of serving alongside each of the 25 members of the municipality.

He stated that their political and administrative journey had been marked by challenges, triumphs, and unravelling dedication to the people of Ashiaman.

Mr Okyere stated that their tenure in office was based on struggles, lessons learnt, and the collective impact on the communities and the people who represent the municipality.

‘Throughout our four-year tenure in office, we have navigated complex legislative, executive, and deliberative landscapes as well as addressed electoral concerns and worked collaboratively to enact policies and programmes aimed at enhancing the lives o
f the people, they served in Ashiaman,’ he stated.

The Municipal Chief Executive acknowledged the dedication each one had demonstrated in fulfilling responsibilities as both elected and appointed assembly members.

He said as the district assembly elections approached to reconstitute another assembly, there was the need to celebrate the achievements chalked during their tenure in office and that their collective support had yielded a positive impact on the citizens of Ashiaman Municipality.

Mr Okyere noted that from infrastructure improvement to social programmes, they had worked tirelessly and deliberately to leave a positive legacy for the future generation, which included the completion of the fence wall around the Ashiaman stadium at Roman Down, the construction of the first floor of the girl’s dormitory block at the Ashiaman Secondary School, and the construction of an ultramodern workshop for the Ashiaman Technical and Vocational Institute, among other achievements during their tenure.

There was also
the maintenance of streetlights within the communities.

‘I was assured that the rehabilitation of streetlights along the Saint Memorial Street from the Ashiaman Roundabout to the under bridge will commence soon.

‘As we step away from our roles as assembly members for now, let us carry forward the lessons learnt and continue the contribution of the embodiment of society in whatever capacity we find ourselves,’ he stated.

Mr Okyere wished all assembly members seeking re-election the best and expressed the hope that they would continue the foundation they had built.

In an interview with Ghana News Agency, Mr. Nii Ayiku Kabutey, Assembly Member of Naa Amerley Electoral Area, highlighted that he had been working with the Assembly for 12 years now, and as an assembly, they have worked hard to gain more awards and development.

He expressed the hope that those who would be elected would enjoy more than they have, even though they have gone through a lot during their tenure.

He appealed that the assembly’s commo
n funds be released on time to help in the development of the municipality.

Mr. Binfor Dacosta, a government appointment, emphasised that working with the assembly for four years had not been easy, but the members and the Municipal Chief Executive have really done their best to maintain peace among them, even though there were disagreements.

He acknowledged the Municipality for being security conscious, which had helped decrease crime rates.
Source: Ghana News Agency

No female has filed to contest in the 2023 District Level Elections (DLEs) in three out of the 15 Municipal and District Assemblies in the Upper East Region, statistics from the Electoral Commission (EC) have revealed.

The three districts are Garu, Tempane and Nabdam.

Out of the 949 contestants in the District Assembly elections in the region, only 25 are females while only 156 females out of the 1,936 are contesting in the Unit Committee elections across the region.

Mr William Obeng Adarkwa, the Upper East Regional Director of the Electoral Commission who revealed these to the Ghana News Agency in an interview in Bolgatanga, expressed concern about the low participation of women in the district-level elections.

He said all preparations humanly and materially including training of all election officers and mounting of platforms for candidates among others were on course to conduct a successful, free, transparent and fair election come December 19, 2023,

The Regional Director urged the public, particular
ly registered voters, to turn up at their various polling stations to vote to select competent leaders to drive the needed development in their communities.

‘I will urge everybody who is a registered voter to take an active part, come out of their homes and vote because it is about development and the local governance structures are the bedrock of developmental activities across the country and the Constitution recognizes that,’ he added.

While admonishing all aspirants to be civil and avoid slanders in their campaigns, he warned political activists from displaying political colours when supporting any candidate as it was against the electoral laws of the country.

‘Legally, this election is non-partisan and that is why even mounting of the platform should be done under the supervision of an official from the Electoral Commission or an appointed official to the EC,’ he emphasized.
Source: Ghana News Agency

Mr Enoch Danso Agyekum, the Hohoe Municipal Electoral Officer, says the Electoral Commission (EC) is fully prepared for this year’s District Level Election in the municipality.

He said apart from the ballot papers expected to arrive by the close of the week, all materials for the conduct of a successful election were in place.

Mr Agyekum, in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA), said the elections, slated for December 19, would begin at 0700 hours and end at 1700 hours.

He said voters were expected to vote for one assembly member and five others as unit committee members.

He expressed the hope that the exercise would be peaceful and urged voters to cast their ballots and return at the end of polls to witness the counting and declaration of results.

A total of 57 candidates are contesting for the assembly member slots in the 17 electoral areas of the municipality.

Out of the number, 48 are males representing 84.2 per cent, while nine are females, representing 15.8 per cent.

For the Unit Commit
tee members, 94 have picked forms in 15 electoral areas with 85 being males, representing 90.4 per cent, and nine being females, representing 9.6 per cent.

The Gbledi Chebi and Alavanyo Wudidi electoral areas have no nomination for Unit Committee members while the Hohoe Torkoni/Trevi, Gbi-Abansi, Alavanyo Kpeme, Alavanyo Abehenease/Agorxoe and Fodome Amele electoral areas have less than five nominees.

Mr Agyekum explained that the EC would 2024 open nominations for electoral areas, which had no nominations, while there would be no elections for Unit Committee members in areas where the nominees were five or fewer.

The Ghana News Agency, during a visit to the EC office, saw some electoral materials being sorted out.
Source: Ghana News Agency

Madam Fawzia Abagnamah Yakubu, the Upper East Regional Women’s Organizer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), says the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) performance alone is not enough to conclude on victory for the NDC in 2024.

She said determination, focus, hard work and vigilance were what they required to wrestle power from the NPP which according to her, had failed to deliver on its promises to Ghanaians.

She said even though the task ahead of them may seem simple as they assumed Ghanaians knew the NPP government had failed, she reiterated that ‘The NPP’s failure alone is not enough for us to conclude on an NDC victory come December 7, 2024.’

Madam Yakubu said this at the inaugural ceremony of the Party’s Regional Women’s Wing Working Committees on the theme: ‘Effective mobilization of the women’s front’ held at Zuarungu, in the Bolgatanga East District.

The 47-member Committees, made of various groups, were charged with the core mandate of assisting the Regional Women’s Organizer to coordinate the
Constituency Women’s Organizers and move into every nook and cranny of the Region to canvass votes for the NDC to return to Power.

On the mode of selection of members to form the various Committees, Madam Yakubu said the Women’s wing took into careful consideration the herculean task ahead of them and settled on individuals who were ready to work with teams to produce proud election results.

‘We must win the December 7, 2024 elections convincingly at the polls to rescue this country. As women, we remain an integral part of this exercise, knowing the influential role we can play once we are committed.

‘The new face of politics in Africa is women, and this is a call to duty we must stand up to in Ghana,’ the Women’s Organizer told members of the various committees.

According to Madam Yakubu, the current economic hardship in the country required a progressive regime headed by ‘A visionary leader, a nation builder with a track record in the person of Mr John Dramani Mahama to restore Ghana back to its past gl
ory.’

Dr Hanna Louisa Bissiw, the National Women’s Organizer of the Party, who inaugurated the Committees, urged Party supporters to put their differences aside and work together with a common unity of purpose towards election 2024.

‘Those of you appointed; you are not going to Lord your positions over the Constituency Women’s Organizers. You are to support the Regional Women’s Organizer and her two Deputies,’ she told the Committees.

Dr Bissiw said the only way Mr John Dramani Mahama, the Flag bearer of the Party could realize his dream of the ‘ 24-hour economy’ was for the women front to work together for the NDC to regain power.

Mr Joseph Yamin, the National Organizer of the NDC, entreated the women to move all out into public places, especially market centres with Party paraphernalia and propagate the message of the NDC.

He said the Party’s paraphernalia should not only be used at Party functions, ‘Move out with it, and when you pass, you will leave a discussion. Let us go into the market even when w
e don’t have anything to buy. The more people see the NDC, the more they like the Party.’

The inauguration ceremony was graced by Dr Dominic Akuritinga Ayine, the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Bolgatanga East Constituency, Madam Lydia Lamisi Akanvariba, MP for Tempane Constituency and Madam Laadi Ayii Ayamba, MP for the Pusiga Constituency.

The rest were Mr Haruna Iddrisu, MP for Tamale South Constituency, Mr Elikem Kotoko, Deputy National Organizer, and Mr Gbande Foyo Mustapha, a Deputy General Secretary among other National and Regional executives of the Party.
Source: Ghana News Agency

Obed Nyarko, Assemblyman for Gonten Electoral Area in the Okaikoi South Municipal Assembly, has appealed to the citizenry to participate in the District Level Elections next week.

Mr Nyarko, in an interview with the GNA ahead of the polls on Tuesday, said local government was the backbone of the country’s democracy and urged the populace to attach great importance to the election of Assembly and Unit Committee members.

He said the Unit Committee and Assembly members were agents of development and must be seen as such and supported for rapid community development.

The Assemblyman, who is seeking reelection, said he had trained polling agents and ready for the polls.

‘I was one of the unfortunate Assembly members because Covid took two years of my tenure. However, within the remaining two years, I was able to deliver most of what I intended to do for my area such as the One Goten Person, One NHIS card programme where we were able to register and renew cards for 2,642 indigenes.’

He said he had also worked
on sanitation and street lighting projects and was hopeful of retaining his position.

The other contestants are Kareen Mettle and Alfred Nyonyogbe.

The Goten Electoral area covers a wide range of communities around North Kaneshie such as the north industrial area, Saint Theresa’s Catholic school, Buzanga line, Dan’s Bar, Ga Mantse’s palace and Kaneshie polyclinic area.

Some residents the GNA spoke to stated their readiness to participate in the election.
Source: Ghana News Agency

Mr Osman Kassim the Yendi Municipal Director of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) has called on Ghanaians to participate in the District Level Elections (DLES) like the National-level Elections such as Presidential and Parliamentary.

He said citizens’ interest and participation in politics and elections in Ghana had historically been during National-Level Elections, but not given the same enthusiasm to local-level elections since 1994.

He said DLEs had experienced a voter turnout of less than 40 percent highlighting concerns trend in citizens’ engagement at the grassroots level.

Speaking during the NCCE public sensitization campaign on the 2023 District level Elections at Yendi Township, Mr Osman said it was against that background that they carried out activities to raise citizens’ awareness and increase voter turnout in the 19th December 2023 District level Elections.

He said the objectives of the public sensitization campaign were to increase awareness about the significance of Distri
ct level Elections promote citizens’ participation in local Governance, encourage a high voter turnout in the 2023 District level Elections and promote a sense of civic responsibility among community members.

He announced that the programme, which commenced on 30th November 2023 and to 14th December 2023 covered 42 activities including dawn and dusk broadcasts, radio engagements, face-to-face visits, and community engagement across Yendi Municipality with a particular focus on communities such as Yendi township, Guntingli, Nakpachei, Adiboo, Kulkpene duli, Malzeri, Zagban.
Source: Ghana News Agency

The National Development Planning Commission (NDPC) has taken steps to review Ghana’s 40-year Development Plan and set ‘clearer’ and measurable targets to enable citizens to effectively assess governments.

The Commission said it would break down the Agenda 2057 plan, simplify it to the understanding of the public and set specific targets for various sectors of national development.

Addressing journalists at a meeting in Accra on Friday, Dr Kodjo Esseim Mensah-Abrampa, Director-General, NDPC, said the Commission would convene a two-day National Development Summit from December 20 to December 21, 2023 as part of the review process.

He said the Summit would assemble stakeholders, experts, civil society organisations, traditional rulers, media professionals, and the public to make input into specific development targets for all sectors.

In 2018, Ghana, adopted a 40-year development plan (2018-2057), with the vision of achieving ‘a just, free and prosperous society’ by 2057.

The plan provides a framework for
national development in line with the NDPC’s mandate enshrined in articles 85, 86 and 87 of the 1992 Constitution.

Dr Mensah-Abrampa said the Review of Agenda 2057 had become necessary as some assumptions and projections that were made in the document had changed and that there was the need to set fresh targets.

He said the Commission would like to develop plans that would be owned by the people to enable them to demand accountability alongside the national development agenda.

Dr Mensah-Abrampa said the Agenda 2057 appeared technical to the public, and thus the need to break it down into specific plans that could be easily identified and measured.

‘We want to establish clear vision for the country in all quarters,’ he told journalists, adding that the Summit would hold ‘frank and open discussion on the kind of Ghana we want.

‘

Dr Mensah-Abrampa said development plans developed by the NDPC were not binding on governments, but once it was approved by Parliament it became a statutory document for the count
ry, which should feed into all facets of development planning.

He said citizens must know the targets and vision for the country and use that to measure and demand accountability from governments.

‘We want to tie governments to the vision and targets. The means of implementation of the plan belongs to the government, which has been given the mandate to execute the people’s vision and the people’s targets,’ Dr Mensah-Abrampa said.
Source: Ghana News Agency

Mr Jerry John Kai Quarshie, Assembly Member aspirant for the Been-To Electoral Area says community interest must remain supreme for voters in the upcoming District Assembly Elections.

He said it was important for the electorate to consider voting for candidates who had the community interest at heart and not personal interests.

He said this in an interview with the Ghana News Agency ahead of the upcoming elections on Tuesday, December 19 Mr Quarshie said his interest in the development of the electoral area over the years had pushed him to voluntarily engage in activities that would improve the lives of the people.

‘Before contesting for the position I had helped install over 38 street lights within the community, organised health screening and National Health Insurance card registration exercise within the area, among others and I hope to do more.’

According to Mr Quarshie some other developmental needs of the area were poor roads and drainage systems, poor sanitation, and security and assured that afte
r retaining his position, he would work hard to fix the other challenges.

Mr Daniel Ayivor, a Carpenter, said all was set and that they were ready to cast their ballots on Tuesday.

‘As a resident of Been-To even though initially I decided not to vote because of previous experience, I have changed my mind… I will vote and vote wisely.’

Other contestants are Mr Stephen Antwi and Mr Kwesi Asare Larbi.

The 2023 District Level Election is slated for Tuesday, December 19, where the electorate will elect one Assembly member and five unit Committee members for each electoral area.
Source: Ghana News Agency