The Local Governance Network [LOGNet], has begun a nationwide sensitization forum to create the needed awareness for the public’s active participation in the upcoming District Level Elections and the Referendum scheduled towards the end of this year.
The maiden edition has been held in Tamale, the Northern Regional capital, where stakeholders from the Northern, Upper East and Upper West regions were in attendance.
Acting National Coordinator of LOGNet, Christopher Dapaah said the election of MMDCEs was an appropriate initiative to vest power back in the people, hence the forum to deepen citizens’ knowledge on the referendum.
The Local Governance Network [LOGNet], is an umbrella body of Civil Society Organizations [CSOs] in Ghana.
The theme for the maiden forum is dubbed:, “Improving Stakeholders’ Understanding for Informed Decision Making at Forthcoming Referendum”.
It was attended by traditional rulers, executives of CSOs, security personnel, religious leaders, executives of the Ghana Federation of Disability Organisations and representatives from political parties amongst others.
Acting National Coordinator of LOGNet, Christopher Dapaah said the outreach program will give citizens in-depth understanding on issues regarding Act 55 of the 1992 Constitution which will enable them make informed decisions at the forthcoming Referendum in December, this year.
The Chief Executive Officer of TEERE, Bolgatanga-based local governance NGO, Professor Ephraim Avea Nsoh lauded the initiative of getting MMDCEs elected at the local level.
According to him, this will make everyone regardless of party affiliations feel and indeed, become part and parcel of true local governance and the practice of democracy.
In an address delivered on her behalf, the Minister for the MLGRD, Hajia Alima Mahama noted that Ghana’s democratic development had witnessed significant progress at both the national and local levels.
She however, said the only deficit was the absence of a system to popularly elect MMDCEs.
She noted therefore that, to rectify this democratic defect, deepen local democracy and bring good governance to the door steps of Ghanaians, the New Patriotic Party, (NPP), during the 2016, general elections, pledged to push for the election of MMDCEs to be done on partisan basis, a pledge she insisted Government will never discard.
