LEGAL CHANGES WILL MAKE DLE EFFECTIE — MRS ADJALO (PAGE 13, DEC 13, 2010)

A MEMBER of the Electoral Commission, Mrs Rebecca Kabukie Adjalo, has explained that changes to the legal framework for the district level elections (DLE) are geared towards making the conduct of the elections more manageable and less expensive, while at the same time making the sub-structures more effective.
She said with regard to printing of ballot papers for elections, the printers develop plates which are very expensive and time consuming.
She further explained that in the upcoming district level elections, about 12,270 plates shall be developed, including 6,135 for the district assembly and 6,135 for the unit committee elections.
Mrs Adjalo who is in charge of the Western Region was speaking at a briefing of district officers of the Electoral Commission (EC), the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) and the Information Services Department (ISD) on the theme: “Harnessing the resources of the EC, NCCE and ISD for improved citizen participation in the 2010”.
The briefing was to upgrade the knowledge of the officers on the legal framework for the district level elections in the light of the changes to the law and share ideas on communication strategies required for effective public education and improve participation in the district level elections.
She said the second peculiar challenge was the inadequate interest of the media in doing public education, adding that the zeal with which the media publicise general elections was almost non-existence with the district level elections.
“Since DLE is non-partisan, there is formal absence of voter education machinery of political parties, because the individual candidates do their own campaigns,” she noted.
Mrs Adjalo said there were also constraints in having adequate numbers of platforms mounted to introduce candidates in the communities that constitute the electoral area.
She added that the time and resources available to the Commission were always not enough to mount the required number of platforms for the candidates.
According to her, the challenges of the 2010 district level elections had been further compounded by the changes to the legal framework for the elections.
Mrs Adjalo said with the brief period between the legal changes, (LI 1983 and CI 68 in November 2010) and the elections on 28th December, 2010; it becomes very difficult to inform the citizenry adequately of the legal changes by way of public education.
She said the Commission was also faced with the constraint of timely release of funds by the government.
She stressed that the challenges of the time called for a proactive stance by the Electoral Commission which was not only charged by the constitution in Article 45 to “conduct and supervise all public elections and referenda” but also to educate the people on the electoral process and its purpose.
The Western Regional Director of EC, Mr Steve Opoku-Mensah said the meeting was of specific significance, coming at such a critical period before the district level elections.
He said it would give them the opportunity to strategise to whip up the interest of Ghanaians to participate actively in the upcoming district level elections, since turnout at district level elections in the country had always been lower than that of the Presidential and Parliamentary elections.