The Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, wants broader stakeholder consultation on the December 17 referendum on whether local level elections should be partisan or not.
He says the exercise cannot be rushed given its crucial nature, hence the need for thorough engagements with all the relevant stakeholders.
Already, there is deep division over the referendum as identifiable groups such as the National House of Chiefs and the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) are canvassing for ‘NO’ votes.
The NDC, in particular, has called for a suspension of the exercise to allow for broader consultations.
But speaking at a leadership lecture at the University of Professional Studies (UPSA) on the topic ‘Strengthening Democratic Institution for National Development’, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II said engagement with chiefs, political parties and other stakeholders will be a step in the right direction.
“Because this is a matter of such momentous importance, I hope, all concerned will step back and take the heat out, so we can see the light in the discourse. How is it possible that the Central Government, representing the modern state, and Nananom, representing the traditional state, could find no space for engagement for consideration of a major reform of the local government and to agree on a common position before such crucial reforms were rolled?”.
“If there had been such engagement, I could not think of how anyone would have ignored the logic in the case for according our chiefs the rightful representation in the new structure. And by the same token, I could not think of how any chief would have seen any incompatibility in the removal of the entrenched clauses in the Constitution to permit the election of the metro and district chief executives or mayors and also allow political parties to sponsor candidates for local elections,” he added.
Arguments against December 17 referendum ridiculous – Dan Botwe
The Minister for Regional Reorganization and Development, Dan Kwaku Botwe wants the December 17 referendum which will make local government elections partisan halted for broader consultations.
He believes it will only be prudent if the referendum is totally withdrawn given what he terms as “ridiculous arguments” about the exercise.
“People are saying we should postpone it. But I am asking why it should be postponed? We should withdraw and forget about it. The whole issue is about a president who wants to deepen multi-party democracy at the district assembly level. It is happening in other countries so the ridiculous argument of dividing the country further doesn’t make sense. We are deepening the principle of multi-party democracy at the district assembly level and they say that will divide the country because there is a division at the top. People put out such baseless statements; gain currency and I am amazed.”
December 17 Referendum
The referendum is to decide on a possible amendment of Article 55 (3) of the 1992 Constitution to enable political parties to sponsor candidates for local level elections.
The outcome will have either of the following outcomes: If the electorate votes YES, the election of MMDCEs, Assembly and Unit Committee Members in the near future will be on a partisan basis.
If they vote NO, then the election of these candidates for the local level elections will be on a non-partisan basis as being practised now.