Laws prohibiting partisan politics at the district level, now obsolete | Policy

Mr. Johnson Asiedu-Nketia, General Secretary of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), said that the provisions of the 1992 Constitution prohibiting political parties from participating in district badembly elections were now obsolete. .

He stated that after applying the 1992 Constitution for more than a quarter of a century, it was clear that they needed to look at it again.

Asiedu-Nketia said this last weekend in Accra at a multi-party conference organized by the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Ghana with funding from the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung.

The conference aims to sensitize Ghanaians to the upcoming referendum on the election of district, metropolitan, municipal and district leaders (MMDCE), scheduled for December.

Section 55 (3) of the 1992 Constitution prohibits the sponsorship of election candidates by political parties in district or local government elections; However, the ruling government of the new Patriotic Party (NPP) has proposed to hold a referendum to amend the constitution to allow the election of district badembly members and MMDCE on the basis of representation of political parties.

Mr. Asiedu-Nketia said: "I was one of the architectures of the 1992 Constitution. And since I sat on the Committee of Decentralization of the Consultative Assembly (the body that has drafting the 1992 Constitution), directly responsible for drafting the provisions as they exist now, let me say however that laws are pbaded to deal with situations at any time.

"And that is why, when laws are made; there are always provisions for amendments. When the situation changes and the law remains in force, it means that the law will not serve the purpose. "

He said that at the time these provisions were in force, there were real reasons that made them necessary at that time; stating that "however, after applying the constitution for more than a quarter of a century, it has become clear that the provisions need to be reconsidered".

He recalled that at that time, the country was entering into a multi-party system with all the fears expressed by layers of that society that partisan politics would lead to divisions.

He said that, by then, there were concerns about national unity and the possibility of national disintegration; stating that these were the concerns that had inspired these provisions at that time.

Mr. Asiedu-Nketia said that at the time, it was also thought that the mobilization of citizens at the local level for community work and others would be better facilitated if it were done without partisan politics.

He added that since the implementation of the 1992 Constitution, the weaknesses of these provisions have become increasingly clear.

For example, in situations where a partisan superstructure was imposed on a non-partisan foundation, there would always be friction at the interface between the two systems; adding that this led to the infamous conflicts of municipal chiefs (MCEs) and deputies (deputies) across the country that characterized democracy in Ghana.

"We have seen cases where, because of these conflicts, members are even forced to promise what they can not provide," he said.

He added, however, that it should be noted that development projects carried out at the local level fall within the remit of the MCEs; stating that "in the meantime, the member is asking the public to vote. The MCE is not going ".

"I think if the ERMs are also on the ground, out there, campaigning for the votes, they will be better placed to promise what is up to them."

Mr. Asiedu-Nketia said that the election of the MMDCEs would go a long way in eliminating conflicts between them and their respective MPs.