A recent study, conducted by a Civil Society Organisation, Center for Decentralization Advocacy (CeDA), has found that approximately 65% of the candidates who have filed to contest in the district assembly elections scheduled for tomorrow, December 19, 2023, are political party functionaries at the electoral area level.
According to the studies, some of the candidates are Electoral Area Coordinators and Polling Station Executives of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), while others are Branch and Ward Executives of the National Democratic Congress.
Out of a total of 18,755 candidates who have filed to contest, 8,846 are affiliated with the NPP, whereas 8,474 are pro-NDC candidates. The research also found that only 1,435 candidates are either neutral/independent or affiliated with other political parties.
According to CeDA, the figures are from data compiled from 6,215 electoral areas across the country. The research, which started on September 11, 2023, sought to find out whether assembly elections are truly non-partisan, the extent to which nominees’ political affiliations affect their chances of winning, and the overt and covert activities by political parties to influence the successes of these candidates.
A statement released by CeDA indicates that the research conclusively denotes that the major political parties, the NPP and NDC, play critical roles in the District Assembly Elections as they conduct elections in the various electoral areas to select the candidates for the District Assembly Elections.
It noted that Members of Parliament from both political parties provide logistical support to their favorite candidates in the form of cash, posters, street lights, and rubbish bins, amplifying that District Assembly Elections are partisan, contrary to some beliefs that they are not.
The findings bring to the fore the discussion on whether or not district assembly elections should be conducted on a partisan basis or otherwise. The NPP government in 2019 commenced the processes to amend Article 55 (3) of the 1992 Constitution to make district-level elections partisan. President Akufo-Addo in October 2019 said practicing multiparty democracy at the ‘top’ of the governance structure but making the district level ‘non-partisan’ is deceptive, for which reason it is time to remove the “fiction and showcase reality.”
The government backtracked on the move following a failure to reach a national consensus on the issue, compelling it to withdraw the Bill in December 2019.
However, President Akufo-Addo, in 2022, resurrected the issue, saying he would continue to work for an extensive, national consensus on the issue.
He noted that should such a consensus be attained for the repeal of Article 55(3) of the Constitution, and an agreement reached for political parties to participate in and sponsor candidates for election to district assemblies, at any point during his remaining tenure of office as President of the Republic, the matter will be brought back to the front burner of public discourse for the necessary action.
