The National Commission on Civic Education (NCCE) has expressed grave concern that only 2.6 percent of persons who have put themselves forward for consideration in the upcoming district-level elections in the Upper East Region are women.
The Electoral Commission has scheduled Tuesday, December 19, 2023, for the district-level elections across the country. In the Upper East Region, a total of 947 people are contesting as assembly members and unit committee members in various electoral areas. Out of the entire number, only 25 are women.
When Fredrick Mawuli Agbenu, Regional Director for the NCCE, spoke to A1 Radio’s Mark Smith on the Day Break Upper East Show ahead of tomorrow’s event, he explained that the situation calls for serious regional introspection. Additionally, he called for massive support for the 25 women who have put themselves up for consideration.
“Our focus for this year has been to ramp up the turnout so that more people will come to vote and to ensure that more women would participate in the process. It is regrettable that out of the 947 people who have presented themselves as candidates in the Upper East Region, only 25 are willing.”
“It is regrettable. I understand that in about 3 districts or so, women didn’t even register at all. For me, I am encouraging all those who will go out to vote tomorrow to vote for any woman that you find on the ballot.”
As part of efforts to ensure that there isn’t general apathy against the election tomorrow, Mr. Agbenu explained that “particularly in the last quarter, we have increased education across all the districts in this region. In fact, across the whole of Ghana, our staff are out there doing community engagement with identifiable groups and speaking on radio stations to educate people.”
More than 66,000 people are vying for assembly and unit committee positions in the upcoming District Level Elections (DLEs), slated for Tuesday, December 19, this year.
Statistics sourced from the Electoral Commission (EC) indicate that the contestants are made up of 18,755 assembly member candidates and 47,502 unit committee member candidates, bringing the number to 66,257 candidates.
They will be seeking election in 6,215 electoral areas across the 216 metropolitan, municipal, and district assemblies (MMDAs).
Out of the 18,755 candidates vying to become assembly members, 6,215 will be elected to serve in the 216 MMDAs, in accordance with section 5(1)(b) of the Local Government Act, 1993 (Act 462).
For the unit committee members, 31,075 will be elected out of the 47,502, given that each electoral area has five unit committee members.
Source: A1Radioonline.com|101.1Mhz|Mark Kwasi Ahumah Smith|Ghana
