Blame NCCE For Referendum ‘Confusion’ – Allotey Jacobs
Janice
Former Central Regional Chairman of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Bernard Allotey Jacobs, has chided the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) for poor job in educating the public
on the upcoming December 17 referendum.He said the NCCE has failed woefully in holding fora in community centres, community radio stations and aggressive social media campaigns to educate the public on the essence of the referendum.
"The NCCE must up their game in ensuring they educate Ghanaians ahead of the December 17 referendum to increase voter turnout, at the moment there is a lot of confusion surrounding the referendum which is very hard,” Allotey Jacobs exclusively told Lawyer Ohene Gyan on ‘Pae Mu Ka’ on Accra-based Kingdom FM 107.7
He noted that the authorities should make sure that the people are adequately informed to get them out to vote in the expected referendum to be held in the affected areas.
The NCCE had earlier expressed disappointment over some “misinformation” in the media alleging that the upcoming December 17 national referendum is to elect MMDCEs.He said to be able to effectively perform the task the NCCE would need education materials and other logistics
Some Ghanaians have expressed apathy towards the 2020 general elections; a situation that has been partly blamed for the low turnout in the ongoing voters’ register exhibition exercise. According to him, the referendum plays a key role in Article 55(3) amendment process to allow political participation and power decentralization in local governance.
Background
A nationwide referendum will be conducted on December 17, 2019, to enable citizens to decide if an entrenched clause in the 1992 Constitution Article 55(3) needs to be amended to permit political parties in Ghana to participate in local government election.
The government needs at least 40 per cent of eligible voters turning out to vote and at least 75 per cent voting in favour for its ‘Yes’ campaign to succeed.The opposition, National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the House of Chiefs have opposed the government’s preposition on the referendum urging the electorate to “Vote No”.
