Politicisation of District Assembly Elections condemned

Mrs Agnes Atayila, a former member of the National Association of Local Authority of Ghana (NALAG), has expressed concern about the politicisation of the District Assembly Election in the country. She alleged that some political parties were supporting contestants for the Election, scheduled to take place next month. Mrs Atayila, also a former Presiding Member of the Bolgatanga Municipal Assembly, was speaking at a two-day leadership and conflict building workshop, organised for women seeking to become Assembly Members and unit committee members, on Friday at Bolgatanga. She reminded Ghanaians that the local Government Act indicates that District Assembly Elections should be conducted on non-partisan basis. Mrs Atayila said that the politicisation of the polls was undermining the implementation of the decentralization concept and good governance. She alleged that usually incumbent governments support aspirants belonging to their party so that they could secure a majority of Assembly Members to confirm District Chief Executives nominated by the President. The event which was organised by the Regional Inter-Sectoral Gender Network (RISEGNET) and sponsored by Action Aid Ghana, aimed at building the capacity of participants in the areas of public speaking and presentations, election campaign, networking, working with the media and appreciation of the role of women in democratic governance. Mr Daud James Abang-Gos, Chairman of RISEGNET, said the programme was aimed at ensuring gender mainstreaming in development, fostering collaboration and networking among partners concerned with gender policies. He appealed to the media to support women seeking political office.