Politics of Friday, 24 June 2016
Source: Graphic.com.gh
File photo
Ghanaian voters have been advised that none of them should avoid voting to allow others to decide for them in the November general election.
The National Commission for Civic Education’s (NCCE) Director for the Obuasi Municipality, Mr Duah Atobrah, stated that on Election Day, instead of exercising their franchise, some voters resorted to excuses and did not cast their votes.
That, according to him, was abdication of a civic duty since they allowed some other citizens to elect the President and Members of Parliament on their behalf.
He, therefore, called on Ghanaians to go to the polling stations in their numbers and vote in the November elections.
Mr Atobrah was speaking at a community durbar organised by the Information Services Department (ISD) in the Obuasi Municipality at Kofekrom, to bring local governance to the doorstep of the people.
He opined that exercising one’s democratic right during elections was as important as paying taxes to contribute to national development.
He said from the experience of the recent limited registration exercise, there was the need to inculcate the culture of tolerance among the people, stressing that there is the need to understand the multi-party system in the body politic of the country.
The NCCE director, therefore, called on the electorate to exercise their political rights by tolerating the opinions of others, rather than trying to infringe upon the rights of their political opponents.
Election violence
The Obuasi Municipal Police Commander, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Mr Jonas Kofi Agbevam, expressed the opinion that without peace, elections could not be conducted.
He noted that there were instances when machomen had been used by political figures to cause disorder at polling stations.