Fallout from the 2010 District Level Elections, EC CHARGED TO DECENTRALIZE PRINTING OF MATERIALS

Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) in the Northern Region have suggested to the Electoral Commission (EC) to endeavour to decentralize the printing of ballot papers for the District Level and Unit Committee Elections.

This followed the series of reports of insufficient and unnecessary delay in the printing of ballot papers in the 2010 district level elections.

At a day’s forum in Tamale to disseminate their findings on the 2010 District Level and Unit Committee Elections, the Election Observers from the NGOs, CBOs and other organizations said even though the 2010 Assembly Elections ended peacefully, there were so many problems that characterized the exercise.

The forum was organized by the Northern Sector Action on Awareness Centre (NORSAAC) in collaboration with the Ghana Developing Communities Association (GDCA) and sponsored by Ibis West Africa.

Apart from the postponement of voting dates, low public awareness campaign and delay in the supply of voting materials, there was a clear incidence of inadequate supply of security personnel especially to some of the “hot spots” in the Northern Region.

The total number of people who contested the 2010 elections in the region was 1,817. Out of the number, 1,672 were males and 145 females.

This means, the men, as usual, dominated the election with about 81 percent representation as against 19 percent of women.

Mr. Mohammed Alhassan Awal, Executive Director of NORSAAC was unhappy about the postponement of the elections by the EC which he indicated discouraged a lot of aspirants especially women who were mostly under-resourced.

He also blamed the EC, National Commission for Civic Education, Information Service Department and the media for failing to find a common ground to effectively create public awareness on the elections.

Mr. Awal bemoaned that, platforms mounted by the EC in some of the communities did not favour most of the women aspirants who did not have the resources to convey people to the grounds.

He therefore, recommended that printing of electoral materials be decentralized at the regional levels to avoid unnecessary delays and shortages of ballot papers.

The Eecutive Director of NORSAAC also appealed to chiefs, opinion leaders, NGOs and the media to encourage more women to participate in subsequent District level elections and also ensure that equal opportunities are created for both the men and women.

One critical area that was intensively emphasized by the election observers/CSOs was the inadequate supply of security personnel especially to the trouble spots. It was discovered that some of the electoral areas were without a single security personnel to police the ballot boxes which therefore brought about some minor threat of violence.

However, the Programmes Director of GDCA, Madam Rosemond Kuma was happy about how women are now being regarded by their communities as an integral part of society.

But one issue disturbing most Ghanaians about the district assembly elections is the active involvement of political parties. One of the Elections Observer Mr. William Abdullai says the political parties are marring the beauty of the elections.