Ashanti NDC Chairman condemns EC for assembly election mess

Kumasi, Jan 3, GNA - The Ashanti Regional Chairman of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), Mr Yaw Owusu Obimpeh, has expressed disapproval of the conduct of the district level polls by the Electoral Commission (EC), particularly in the Ashanti Region, and asked for thorough investigation.

He said the mess and confusion that plagued the election had completel= y killed off the enthusiasm of the people and warned that this could potentially undermine the effectiveness of local governance. "Many, otherwise good candidates, are likely to lose out because of voter apathy and the effect of this on the quality of the assemblies and th= e pace of progress of the districts should be obvious to all," Mr Obimpeh t= old the GNA. Mr Obimpeh said he found it difficult to rationalize why voters in th= e same district should be casting ballot to elect their representatives to th= e assembly and the unit committees at different times. He said in the Kwabre East district for example, the EC twice in th= e same week organized the assembly and unit committee polls, yet some electoral areas still remain uncovered.

He said, granted that funds for the election were delayed, the Commission should have done better than 93what we are seeing." "Let us remind ourselves that the assembly and unit committee members are not paid salaries and therefore those who put themselves up as candidates do so in their sincere desire to serve their communities. If the= y are made to go through such disappointments, we can trust that next time, they would simply stay away. 94 The elections were held in 20 out of the 27 administrative district= s in the region on Wednesday, December 29, last year. Even with the 20, it was common to see people in parts of the sam= e district not voting because they did not receive their ballot papers.