Together, we shall build our economy to work 24 hours – Mahama tells new Assembly Members
Former President John Dramani Mahama has reminded the newly elected Assembly and Unit Committee Members that if he is elected President of Ghana in 2024, he will begin paying allowances to all of them to assist them in carrying out their duties.
He stated that he and the assembly members will work together to grow Ghana’s economy and force them to work 24 hours a day to create well-paying employment.
Mr. Mahama congratulated the winners of the district-level elections held on Tuesday, December 19. He reminded them that it is their job to contribute to Ghana’s decentralization efforts.
“I exercised my civic responsibility as a Ghanaian by voting in Tuesday’s district-level elections at the Bole District Assembly polling station. Congratulations to all who participated in the exercise. And to our newly elected Assembly Members across the country, let me remind you that we all have a responsibility to contribute and ensure that we get our decentralization right. I remain committed, when voted as the President of Ghana in 2024, to begin paying allowances to all Assembly Members to help them carry out their duties. Together, we shall build our local economies and make them work 24 hours to generate well-paying jobs,” the flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) wrote on his X platform on Wednesday, December 20.
Mr. Mahama also proposed that assembly members be paid a stipend.
This, he believes, will enhance interest in their elections by making them more competitive. Mr. Mahama also urged that the Commission publicize district-level elections in the same way that it promotes presidential and parliamentary elections.
This, he believes, would raise public awareness of and interest in the district assembly elections.
Asked what could be done to raise the interest of Ghanaians in the district assembly elections after casting his ballot in the ongoing elections in his electoral area in Bamboi, on Tuesday, December 19, he said “There is a lot more communication with the presidential and parliamentary elections. Those elections attract a lot more interest than the assembly elections. The assembly elections, traditionally, since we started the district assembly have always had a lower turnout than presidential and parliamentary elections.
“But I do think that if we communicate and advertise those elections further and if we make our decentralization deeper and put more resources into it, it will make people more interested in it. For instance, if we start paying assembly members an allowance it is going to increase interest in those elections, I think it will be a keener contest than they currently are.”
Mr Mahama directed the Electoral Commission (EC) to structure itself properly in order to prevent the technological issues seen in some electoral zones during the ongoing district-level elections in the 2024 national elections.
He claims that because national elections, such as presidential and parliamentary elections, are more emotional, the commission must work hard to avoid technology glitches.
Speaking to journalists after casting his ballot in the ongoing district-level elections in Bole on Tuesday, December 19, the flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) said “Unfortunately I hear there are glitches in many places. It is my hope that the EC will get its acts together because we know that national, presidential, and parliamentary s are more emotive, and if people go to the polls on 7th December 2024 and some of these glitches occur it will lead to a lot of chaos and so the EC has to get its acts together.”
The commission has delayed district-level elections in several Eastern Region electoral regions for Thursday, December 21.
This is owing to a number of technical difficulties discovered during the beginning of voting on Tuesday, December 19. The commission guaranteed voters in impacted regions that they would vote on the rescheduled day. The commission asked all Ghanaians to participate fully in the exercise.
Addressing the press in Accra on Monday, December 18, the Chair of the Commission Mrs. Jean Adukwei Mensa said “Experience over the years shows that this election is not highly participated in. Let us make this election meaningful.
“We are all aware that developments start at the district level and therefore it is important that as citizens, we have a say and a stake in who brings development to our various districts.”
Dan Botwe, the Minister of Local Government, Decentralization, and Rural Development, made a similar appeal to Ghanaians.
“We know the turnout for district-level elections in the country in previous years has been extremely low, but we are targeting at least 50 percent turnout this time around and we want all, irrespective of party affiliation, to go to the polls in their numbers on the day to cast their ballot,” he told TV3.