ASPIRING ASSEMBLY MEMBERS CAN MOUNT OWN PLATFORMS — EC )PAGE 13, NOV 2, 2010)

PROSPECTIVE candidates for the forthcoming District Level Elections (DLE) can now mount their own platforms in their respective electoral areas but with the consent of the Electoral Commission (EC).
This, according to the Electoral Officer responsible for the Upper West Region, Mr Ebenezer Aggrey-Fynn, is a departure from the previous system where the EC mounted the platforms for the candidates.
He, however, cautioned against politicising the event, adding that non-political institutions and organisations could support the exercise by making resources available to the EC to be used to support the candidates.
Mr Aggrey-Fynn made this known during an interaction between the EC and media personnel in Wa, in the Upper West Region, at the weekend.
Dubbed Regional Media Dialogue on the 2010 DLE, the meeting was aimed at equipping the media to be able to sensitise the populace as well as disseminate more information to the people on the upcoming local government elections.
It was on the theme: “Improving citizen participation in the 2010 DLE through enhanced knowledge.”
Speaking on the topic “Preparations for the DLE so far, changes in the legal framework and planned awareness programmes,” Mr Aggrey-Fynn noted that with the reduction of the number of unit committee members from the previous number of 15 to five, all of whom are to be elected, he foresaw a keenly contested elections at the grass-roots level.
He, therefore, suggested that the government considered giving members of the committee some incentives or remuneration as a means of making the unit committees more effective.
On why the elections were fixed for December 28, 2010, the commissioner in charge of the Upper West Region explained that due to certain changes by the EC with respect to the number of electoral areas which has been increased from 5,000 to 6,000 as a result of the rapid increase in population and the springing up of more settlements among other factors, the EC was waiting for Parliament to pass the law governing the DLE before it could go ahead with the elections.
He mentioned for instance, that the Upper West region use to have 198 electoral areas but presently it has shot up to 296.
“All these were done in consultation with the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, chiefs, opinion and other traditional leaders,” Mr Aggrey-Fynn added.
The Regional Director of the EC, Mr Yahaya Mahama, for his part, said the EC relied so much on the media in ensuring a successful DLE as well as any other elections.
He, therefore, appealed to media personnel to do their best to reach out to the people with the messages on the DLE.