The Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference is worried by the seeming lack of information on the upcoming referendum on the election of Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs).
The Electoral Commission has slated December 10 this year for the referendum.
The election of MMDCEs was a major campaign promise of the New Patriotic Party in the run-up to the 2016 election.
The government most recent step in this regard was presenting the amendment bill to Parliament.
But the President of the Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference, Most Reverend Philip Naameh, says adequate public education on the exercise will put prepare the ground for a successful referendum.
In a speech read on his behalf by the Archbishop of the Accra Diocese, Most Reverend Bonaventure Kwofie, said it was “rather worrying that such an important issue has not received the level of participation in the discussions leading to it despite the fact that if successful, it will lead to the amendment of an important entrenched article of the national constitution.”
The current law, in Article 243 (1) of the 1992 Constitution, says:
“There shall be a District Chief Executive for every district who shall be appointed by the President with the prior approval of not less than two-thirds majority of members of the assembly present and voting at the meeting.”
Most Reverend Bonaventure Kwofie also assured that the state had the church’s support ahead of the referendum.
He said the various parishes “will continue to provide platforms and opportunities for awareness creation and discussion on the merits and demerits of the proposals.”
