{"id":6371,"date":"2019-11-13T13:57:48","date_gmt":"2019-11-13T13:57:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.com\/ghana\/?p=6371"},"modified":"2019-11-13T13:57:48","modified_gmt":"2019-11-13T13:57:48","slug":"december-17-referendum-ndc-wants-no-vote-to-avoid-polarization","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/ghana\/all-news\/december-17-referendum-ndc-wants-no-vote-to-avoid-polarization","title":{"rendered":"December 17 referendum: NDC wants ‘NO’ vote to avoid polarization"},"content":{"rendered":"

The opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) has urged Ghanaians to vote ‘No’ in rejection of a proposal to make District Assembly Elections partisan.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The party is garnering the support of majority of Ghanaians in the December 17 referendum, which will determine the ‘for’ or ‘against’\u00a0 the move to amendment the Constitution to allow partisan participation into Ghana\u2019s local governance system.<\/p>\n

At a press conference in Accra on Tuesday, National Chairman of the NDC, Samuel Ofosu Ampofo, said the NDC\u00a0 the country risks being polarized if\u00a0electorate voted YES.<\/p>\n

“It is our well-considered view, and indeed that of well-meaning Ghanaians, that the needless NDC\ufffeNPP polarization at the national level should not be extended into the District Assemblies and Unit
\nCommittees, which is what will happen if we vote to make the local government system partisan,” he said, adding that “it\u00a0would politicise the local governance system against the entrenched clause in Article 55(3) of the 1992 Constitution”.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe local government system should remain non-partisan and that individuals contest the District Assembly and Unit Committee elections on their own merit,\u201d the NDC Chairman stressed.<\/p>\n

He, however, said the party supported the elections of Municipal and District Chief Executives as proposed by the Akufo-Addo government.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe of the NDC believe that all our towns and villages should have one communal Labour Day and one market and we can only achieve this by voting \u2018NO\u2019,\u201d Mr Ofosu Ampofo stated.<\/p>\n

The NDC Chairman stressed that Ghana was not ready for the introduction of fully blown partisan politics at the local government level, adding that a \u2018Yes\u2019 vote would have dire consequences including; increase in corruption.<\/p>\n

Read full statement below<\/p>\n

NATIONAL DEMOCRATIC CONGRESS (NDC) PRESS CONFERENCE\u00a0NDC\u2019s POSITION ON THE REFERENDUM TO AMEND THE CONSTITUTION TO\u00a0MAKE THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT SYSTEM PARTISAN AND CONSEQUENTIAL\u00a0MATTERS<\/p>\n

Ladies and gentlemen,
\nAt the meeting held last Thursday, the NEC of the NDC affirmed our long held position that
\nMMDCEs should be elected. We however took the view that the local government system should
\nremain non-partisan and that individuals contest the District Assembly and Unit Committee elections
\non their own merit. We therefore decided to campaign for a NO vote at the referendum and to urge
\nall Ghanaians to vote NO at the referendum.
\nIt is our well-considered view, and indeed that of well-meaning Ghanaians, that the needless NDC\ufffeNPP polarization at the national level should not be extended into the District Assemblies and Unit
\nCommittees, which is what will happen if we vote to make the local government system partisan.
\nThe consequence of exporting this polarization into the District Assemblies is that very soon in our
\nvillages, there will be \u201cNDC Communal Labour day\u201d and \u201cNPP Communal Labour day\u201d. There will
\nalso be \u201cNDC market\u201d and \u201cNPP market\u201d And so on and so forth. We of the NDC believe that all
\nour towns and villages should have one communal Labour Day, and one market and we can only
\nachieve this by voting NO.\u00a0Ladies and gentlemen,
\nIf you will recall, last week at Akatsi in the Volta Region, President Akufo-Addo stated that he was
\ncommitted to sustaining former President Rawlings\u2019 decentralization legacy. That legacy is based on
\nthe non-partisan local government system. It is therefore imperative that we vote NO at the
\nreferendum in order to give effect to President Akufo-Addo\u2019s commitment.
\n(Let me take this paragraph again)\u00a0THE REFERENDUM
\nLadies and gentlemen,
\nArticle 55 (3) of the Constitution states as follows: \u201cSubject to the provisions of this article, a
\npolitical party is free to participate in shaping the political will of the people, to disseminate
\ninformation or political ideas, social and economic programmes of a national character and sponsor
\ncandidates for elections to any public office other than to District Assemblies\u00a0or other local
\ngovernment unit\u201d.
\nThe referendum has become necessary because Article 55 is an entrenched provision of the
\nConstitution and therefore can only be amended through a referendum. But in amending Article 55,
\nthere would be many consequential matters and pitfalls which government may not have considered.<\/p>\n

Indeed, that is why the proposed bill should have been subjected to intense public discussion as is
\nrequired for holding referenda on any provision of the Constitution. Without the needed clarity,
\nconfusion would arise out of the referendum. This is the problem Great Britain has had to grapple
\nwith since the Brexit referendum.\u00a0PITFALLS OF THE REFERENDUM BILL
\nLadies and gentlemen,
\nThe first pitfall relating to making the local government system partisan has to do with the bill on
\nwhich the referendum is to be held which is titled the \u2018Constitution (Amendment) Bill, 2018\u2019. It was
\nsigned by the Attorney-General, Ms. Gloria Afua Akuffo, on 26th September, 2018 and given Gazette
\nnotification on 12th November 2018. It states as follows:
\n\u201cArticle 55 of the Constitution amended
\nArticle 55 of the Constitution is amended by the repeal of clause (3) and the insertion of the
\nfollowing:
\n\u201c(3) Subject to the provisions of this article, a political party may participate in shaping the
\npolitical will of the people, to disseminate information on political ideas, social and economic
\nprogrammes of a national character and sponsor candidates for elections to any public office\u201d.
\nA copy of the Amendment Bill will be distributed to all members of the media here present.. It must
\nbe noted that the language in the original Article 55 (3) that \u201ca political party — isfree to disseminate
\ninformation on — political ideas, social and economic programmes of a national character —\u201d
\nWe wish to point out that this was couched in that way because the local government system was
\nnon-partisan and political parties were prohibited from sponsoring candidates for elections at the
\ndistrict and sub-district (local) levels. So by repeating it in the Constitution (Amendment) Bill, 2018,
\nit means that even though under the bill, political parties may sponsor candidates for election to any
\npublic office, including the District Assemblies and Unit Committees \u201cthey cannot disseminate\u00a0political ideas, social and economic programmes of a local character\u201d (that is at the district and
\nunit levels). In effect, political parties cannot campaign in the district level elections which are
\nintended to deal with local level socio-political issues.
\nSimply put, voting YES, would mean that political parties can sponsor candidates to both District
\nAssembly and Unit Committee elections but the same political parties cannot campaign in the
\ndistricts and the units for those elections. This flies in the face of logic.<\/p>\n

Ladies and gentlemen,
\nThe second pitfall relates to Article 248 (1) and (2) of the Constitution. That Article states as follows:
\n\u201c(1) A candidate seeking election to a District Assembly or any lower local government unit shall
\npresent himself to the electorate as an individual, and shall not use any symbol associated with any
\npolitical party.
\n(2) A political party shall not endorse, sponsor, offer a platform to or in any way campaign for or
\nagainst a candidate seeking election to a District Assembly or any lower local government unit\u201d.
\nIf Article 248 is not amended or repealed, it will mean that even if the referendum succeeds in
\namending Article 55 (3) to allow political parties to sponsor candidates for District Assembly and
\nUnit Committee elections, the candidates cannot use the symbols of those political parties and indeed
\nthe political parties cannot endorse, sponsor, offer a platform to or campaign for those candidates.
\nThat will be an unpardonable contradiction in our Constitution.\u00a0Ladies and gentlemen,
\nThe third pitfall relates to the need for a repeal of Article 242(d) of the Constitution. This is the
\narticle that requiresthe President to appoint 30 per cent of the membership of the District Assemblies.
\nThat requirement was necessary when the District Assembly system was non-partisan. However, if
\nas the bill seeks to do, the President\u2019s party will be sponsoring candidates to contest the District
\nAssembly elections, it will not be fair or just to also allow that President to appoint 30 per cent of
\nthe membership which will only go to swell up the overall number of his party members in the
\nDistrict Assembly.
\nIndeed, outside the proposed referendum, it has been our view that this provision should be amended
\nso that government will cede the 30 per cent appointments as it presently stands to the chiefs and
\ntraditional authorities as was the case under the Second and Third Republican Constitutions.Ladies and gentlemen,<\/p>\n

The second pitfall relates to Article 248 (1) and (2) of the Constitution. That Article states as follows:
\n\u201c(1) A candidate seeking election to a District Assembly or any lower local government unit shall
\npresent himself to the electorate as an individual, and shall not use any symbol associated with any
\npolitical party.
\n(2) A political party shall not endorse, sponsor, offer a platform to or in any way campaign for or
\nagainst a candidate seeking election to a District Assembly or any lower local government unit\u201d.
\nIf Article 248 is not amended or repealed, it will mean that even if the referendum succeeds in
\namending Article 55 (3) to allow political parties to sponsor candidates for District Assembly and
\nUnit Committee elections, the candidates cannot use the symbols of those political parties and indeed
\nthe political parties cannot endorse, sponsor, offer a platform to or campaign for those candidates.
\nThat will be an unpardonable contradiction in our Constitution.
\nLadies and gentlemen,
\nThe third pitfall relates to the need for a repeal of Article 242(d) of the Constitution. This is the
\narticle that requiresthe President to appoint 30 per cent of the membership of the District Assemblies.
\nThat requirement was necessary when the District Assembly system was non-partisan. However, if
\nas the bill seeks to do, the President\u2019s party will be sponsoring candidates to contest the District
\nAssembly elections, it will not be fair or just to also allow that President to appoint 30 per cent of
\nthe membership which will only go to swell up the overall number of his party members in the
\nDistrict Assembly.<\/p>\n

Indeed, outside the proposed referendum, it has been our view that this provision should be amended
\nso that government will cede the 30 per cent appointments as it presently stands to the chiefs and
\ntraditional authorities as was the case under the Second and Third Republican Constitutions.
\nLadies and gentlemen,
\nThe fourth pitfall is in respect of Regulation 2 (1) (c) of the Local Government (Sub-Metropolitan
\nDistrict Councils) (Establishment, Composition and Functions) Instrument, 2015, L. I. 2223. This
\nprovides as members of the Sub-Metropolitan District Councils (SMDCs) \u201cnot more than five adult
\nresidents the majority of whom are to be women in the sub-metropolitan district appointed by the
\nRegional Minister in consultation with the traditional authorities and other interest groups in the
\nsub-metropolitan district\u201d.<\/p>\n

This L.I. will also have to be amended to prevent the Regional Minister who is the appointee
\nof the President from packing the SMDC with party members. As we have proposed for the
\nAssemblies, this appointment may also be ceded to the chiefs and traditional authorities.
\nLadies and gentlemen, I now proceed to pitfall number five.
\nCurrently, the cost of the non-partisan district level elections, that is the District Assembly and Unit
\nCommittee elections, including the cost of the campaigns of the candidates through the mounting of
\nthe platform system, is borne by the state. If the elections are made partisan and political parties are
\nto sponsor candidates for the District Assembly and Unit Committee elections, will the cost of those
\nelections and the cost of the campaigns of the candidates continue to be borne by the state or the cost
\nwill be passed on to the political parties? Are the political parties in a position to bear that cost?
\nThe sixth pitfall is that once the district level elections become partisan political parties may be
\ncompelled to hold party primaries at both the electoral area and unit levels in order to select
\ncandidates for the District Assembly and Unit Committee elections. Are the political parties ready,
\nwilling and able to bear those costs? Are we prepared to transfer the canker of monetization in our
\nnational politics onto the local government system?
\nLadies and gentlemen,
\nThe seventh pitfall relates to general difficulties that are likely to arise in the post-elected District
\nAssembly and Unit Committee local government architecture, in respect of the following:<\/p>\n

How will District Assemblies which are considered \u201chostile\u201d to the Central Government (in the
\nsense that the majority of the Assembly members do not belong to the party in power at the
\nCentral Government level) be handled and are not discriminated against by the Central
\nGovernment when it comes to the allocation of resources, the provision of services and the siting
\nof projects;<\/p>\n

Has government considered the likelihood of heightened tensions between the Central
\nGovernment and \u201chostile\u201d District Assemblies and especially between \u201chostile\u201d District Chief
\nExecutives (in the sense of elected District Chief Executives who do not belong to the President\u2019s
\nparty) and the President.?<\/p>\n

How will a regional minister appointed by the president run the affairs of the region which may
\nbe dominated by \u201chostile district assemblies\u201d with \u201c hostile district chief executives\u201d to realize a
\nharmonious relationship within the region.<\/p>\n

Ladies and Gentlemen of the Media,
\nFollowing from the substantial issues we have raised, we wish to conclude as follows;
\n1. Our support for the election of MMDCEs has not changed. We note however that article 243 (1)
\non the election of DCEs is not an entrenched clause in the 1992 constitution and can therefore be
\nchanged by two-thirds majority of all parliamentarians. A referendum is not required to effect the
\nchange allowing for the election of MMDCEs. Government may therefore place a Bill before
\nParliament setting out the modalities for the election for consideration. This is the primary interest
\nof Ghanaians.
\n2.The Constitution (Amendment) Bill, 2018, has many ramifications for the smooth, effective and
\nharmonious administration of the Metropolitan and District Assemblies. It hasto be thought through
\nvery well. Unfortunately, the bill as it is now is fatally flawed and cannot form the basis for the
\nreferendum to amend Article 55 (3). It must be withdrawn. But if the government insists on making
\nthe Assembles partisan, then a new bill must be drafted, re-gazetted and subjected to serious
\nscrutiny by Ghanaians, unlike the surreptitious manner it has gone about the current Bill. It will
\nalso mean that the 6-month period required by the Constitution for the Bill to be gazette will
\nbegin to run anew.
\n3.As part of the process for presenting the referendum question afresh, Government must produce a
\nblueprint on how the pitfalls arising from the amendment proposal that we have raised are to be
\nresolved. We insist there must be broader consultation with all the relevant stakeholders.
\nWe acknowledge and are aware of on-going efforts made by some civil society organizations to
\nforge a bipartisan approach to issues of the referendum including government committing itself to
\nconcrete and verifiable steps pertaining to proposed changes to the constitutional provisions
\nidentified in our statement. The outcome of meetings which have involved the Minority vindicate
\nthe stance we have taken that the referendum should be put on hold. Failing that, we would urge
\nthe electorate to vote NO.<\/p>\n

The NDC is of the firm view that the country is already sharply divided along partisan lines. The one
\nthing which still binds us together as a people is the fact that at the local level, the local government
\nsystem is run on a non-partisan basis and therefore is able to rally all of us for development. We
\nknow as a fact that whenever politicians have tried to politicize the local government system it has
\nnever augured well for the community.<\/p>\n

Are we prepared to subject this time-tested system to the ravenous nature of partisan politics, which
\ncould further tear us apart without taking into account all the legitimate concerns we have raised so
\nfar?
\nLadies and gentlemen,
\nThe issues we have brought up go to the very heart of the legitimacy of the scheduled referendum.
\nWe have done our duty to country by bringing to the fore, the inherent flaws in even the way the Bill
\non which the referendum question is premised has been put.
\nFINALLY, LET ME REITERATE THE POSITION OF THE NDC THAT THE ELECTION OF
\nMMDCEs IS VIABLE AND DOABLE. THE RELEVANT CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISION IS
\nNOT AN ENTRENCHED CLAUSE SO PARLIAMENT CAN AMEND IT WITH TWO THIRDS
\nMAJORITY WITHOUT NECESSARILY TURNING THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT SYSYEM
\nINTO A HOTBED OF PARTISAN CONFUSION.
\nWe thank you very much for your attention<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) has urged Ghanaians to vote ‘No’ in rejection of a proposal to make District Assembly Elections partisan. The party is garnering the support of majority of Ghanaians in the December 17 referendum, which will determine the ‘for’ or ‘against’\u00a0 the move to amendment the Constitution to allow partisan participation […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":66,"featured_media":6372,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,7,8,12],"tags":[4215,4214,1854],"class_list":["post-6371","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-head-lines","category-homepage-english","category-policy","tag-avoid-polarization","tag-ndc-wants-no-vote","tag-opposition-national-democratic-congress-ndc"],"yoast_head":"\nDecember 17 referendum: NDC wants 'NO' vote to avoid polarization - Ghana<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) has urged Ghanaians to vote 'No' in rejection of a proposal to make District Assembly Elections partisan.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/ghana\/all-news\/december-17-referendum-ndc-wants-no-vote-to-avoid-polarization\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"December 17 referendum: NDC wants 'NO' vote to avoid polarization\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) has urged Ghanaians to vote 'No' in rejection of a proposal to make District Assembly Elections partisan.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/ghana\/all-news\/december-17-referendum-ndc-wants-no-vote-to-avoid-polarization\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Ghana\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-11-13T13:57:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/ghana\/2019\/11\/download-2.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"252\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"francis\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"francis\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"14 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/ghana\/all-news\/december-17-referendum-ndc-wants-no-vote-to-avoid-polarization#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/ghana\/all-news\/december-17-referendum-ndc-wants-no-vote-to-avoid-polarization\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"francis\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/ghana\/#\/schema\/person\/3687592f7713dc6c826cf5bbd0e55bca\"},\"headline\":\"December 17 referendum: NDC wants ‘NO’ vote to avoid polarization\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-11-13T13:57:48+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/ghana\/all-news\/december-17-referendum-ndc-wants-no-vote-to-avoid-polarization\"},\"wordCount\":2714,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/ghana\/all-news\/december-17-referendum-ndc-wants-no-vote-to-avoid-polarization#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/ghana\/2019\/11\/download-2.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"avoid polarization\",\"NDC wants 'NO' vote\",\"opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC)\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"head lines\",\"homepage-english\",\"policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/ghana\/all-news\/december-17-referendum-ndc-wants-no-vote-to-avoid-polarization#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/ghana\/all-news\/december-17-referendum-ndc-wants-no-vote-to-avoid-polarization\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/ghana\/all-news\/december-17-referendum-ndc-wants-no-vote-to-avoid-polarization\",\"name\":\"December 17 referendum: NDC wants 'NO' vote to avoid polarization - 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