NBarely six months to the 2019 national referendums on the amendment of Article 55 of the 1992 constitution, the Northern Regional director of the National Commission on Civic Education (NCCE), Alhaji Abdul Razak Saani has revealed that the region is yet to receive funds and logistics from Accra to carry out public education and sensitization on the process.
Following the President’s
decision to have Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Chief Executives elected
to allow for a multi-party based district level elections as well as the
elections of MMDCEs and membership of MMDAs and sub-district structures there
has been some sort of campaigns but that has not happened in the Northern Region.
The Electoral Commission has
set December 10, 2019 as the day for a national referendum to reach a consensus
as to whether or not political parties must be allowed to participate in
district level elections.
Addressing participants at a
capacity building program organized by NORSAAC with support from IDEG to
explain the amendment of Article 55 of the 1992 to CSO and other relevant
stakeholders, the NR NCCE Boss called on the government to release the needed
funds for the activities of the commission timeously.
According to him, the unavailability
of funds and logistics to the commission at the regional level is preventing
them from educating the public on the coming national exercise.
He added that a timely release
of funds to the commission will go a long way to empower the commission to
explain to the public the issues at stake for a better understanding of the
process and the need for the referendum.
He further stated that, when
funds are released late, the commission will not be able to perform its task
well as expected.
“We do shoddy work when funds
are released late. We are unable to reach the public, especially those in very
remote areas,” he said.
Alhaji Saani indicated that,
civic education is a shared responsibility and the commission is ready to
collaborate with institutions to carry out its duties effectively.
He stressed the importance of public education and said if anything untoward happens during the exercise, it will dent the image of the country’s democracy.
FROM Eric Kombat, Tamale
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