CIVIL Society Organisations (CSOS) in the Northern Region have called on the Electoral Commission (EC) and the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development to ensure that the December 28, 2010 date fixed for the District and Unit Committee elections is not changed.
The organisations, observed that the postponement of the date from October 23 to December 28, 2010 would create a power vacuum in all the 170 metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies (MMDAs) and affect the activities of the assemblies.
It will also deny the people the opportunity to demand accountability within the period.
The Facilitator of the CSO Forum, Mr Alhassan Awal, made the call at a press conference in Tamale on emerging issues of the 2010 District and Unit Committee Elections.
The conference followed a forum held on September 6, 2010 by the 21 members of the CSOs to critically assess the forthcoming district assembly elections.
According to Mr Awal, the CSOs observed with grave concern “key stakeholders’ contribution to the postponement of the 2010 district assembly elections that had created confusion and worry to aspirants and wondered if government and the EC attached importance to this important national exercise”.
The facilitator urged the government to ensure the availability of the needed resources to enable the EC and the National Commission for Civic Education to create awareness on the new date and also encourage citizens to participate actively in the process.
Mr Awal equally pointed out the need for the President to use his executive powers during the period of the power vacuum to ensure that the activities of the assemblies were not interrupted.
He appealed to Parliament and other stakeholders whose duty it was to expedite action on resolving the legal aspect of the new date to immediately take action to bring to rest the current legal debate on the exercise.
The facilitator further explained that the postponement had created frustration among aspiring candidates who had already invested their resources in the campaign towards the earlier date of the elections.
“Citizens’ interest in the district assembly elections is likely to experience a serious setback which can affect operationalisation of the decentralisation concept”, he stressed.
According to Mr Awal, a few people who have to manage the resources of the assembly during the power vacuum created before the new date of the elections are likely to execute projects that may not reflect the needs of the people and further defeat the decentralisation concept.
“In the opinion of the CSO forum, the district assembly elections are as important as the presidential and parliamentary elections and must be given all the seriousness that it deserves”, he stated.
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