President Nana Akufo-Addo’s decision to abort plans for the election of Metropolitan Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs) is still receiving criticism.
A group calling itself FiftyPercent PlusOne says the move by the president was undemocratic.
“[It is] an assault on democratic norms and values that provide the guardrails of Ghana’s governance system… The onslaught by political actors on Ghana’s democracy and social fabric must be fiercely resisted,” the group said in a statement signed by Isaac Kwame Batun, the Executive Director.
President Akufo-Addo in a televised address on Sunday called for the withdrawal of the two Bills after he directed the cancellation of the December 17 referendum to amend Article 55(3) which was to allow political parties to file candidates for district-level elections.
“It is with deep regret that I have given instructions to the Minister of Local Government and Rural Development…to abort the process and see to the withdrawal of the Bills for the amendment of the Constitutions both in respect of Article 243(1) and Article 55(3),” the president said.
The appointment of the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs) is done 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.
The amendment of Article 243(1) which was a major campaign promise of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) is intended to allow Ghanaians to elect their own MMDCEs but the president has directed the process to be halted until such a time when it would be appropriate to continue with it.
FiftyPercent PlusOne, which was among the groups campaigning for a ‘No’ vote in the scheduled referendum, said the decision is “ill-conceived, ill-advised and ill-timed,” calling on the president to provide further information about the premise of his decision and the way forward.
“The president needs to explain to Ghanaians why he decided to discontinue the changes to Article 243(1) after he failed to achieve national consensus on the amendment of Article 55 (3),” the group said, adding. “Ghanaians must protect their political freedom from slipping away,” the group said.