The district level elections slated to take place today (Tuesday, 19 December 2023) is currently ongoing across the country.
This would be the eighth time Ghanaians would go to the polls to elect their local level representatives since the country opted for democratic rule in 1992.
The last district level elections held in the country were in November 2019-four years ago, while the first to the sixth elections were in 1988/89, 1994, 2002, 2006, 2010 and 2015.
According to the District Assembly Elections Act, the elections are to be held every four years and shall be held at least six months apart from parliamentary elections.
The elections are happening in 6,215 electoral areas across 216 metropolitan, municipal, and district assemblies except the Nkoranza North and South in the Bono East Region.
Over 66,000 people are competing for the district assembly and unit committee positions in the forthcoming district level elections.
The EC has over the years trained personnel and made preparations well ahead of time to ensure the smooth organisation of the polls.
The EC’s data indicates that there are 18,755 assembly member candidates and 47,502-unit committee member candidates, totalling 66,257 candidates.
Out of the 18,755 assembly candidates, 17, 474 are males representing 94%, whilst the females are 1,106 representing 6%.
Also, out of the 47,502-unit committee candidates, 40,923 are males representing 88% and females 5,413 representing 11.6%. This will be an appreciable increase in the number of candidates who contested the elections four years ago.
Sadly, this enthusiasm from the candidates has not trickled down to the voters yet.
The exercise, since its inception in 1988, has always been met with voter apathy and lack of enthusiasm though it has been touted as one of the best platforms for citizens to participate actively in selecting their local representatives.
Data shows that in 1998/89 when the DLE commenced, voter turnout was 59.3%. However, in 1994, the figure reduced drastically to 29.3%.
It jumped up again from 29.3% to 41.6% in 2002.
Unfortunately, whatever measures that were put in place in 2002 could not be sustained and this led to a decline in the numbers in 2006. The voter turnout for that year was 33.1 per cent. In 2010, the turnout increased slightly to 35.5% and decreased again to 30.6% in 2015.
The low participation of women has also been one of the woes associated with this election.
Over the years, the EC and other civil society organisations have advocated for more women participation in the exercise, but the problem persists, and this year’s election is no exception.
As stated earlier, only 6% of women are contesting the assembly member position as against 94% of males. Similarly, the unit committee also witnessed the same trend. Only 11.6% of women as against 88% of men are contesting.
Despite all these shortcomings, the election is here and we must exercise that right as a democratic country by going to the polls on Tuesday to vote.
Many organisations, including the Ghana Journalists Association, have called on Ghanaians to go to the polls tomorrow to cast their ballot.
The GJA said it appreciated the fact that Ghanaians might barely have a week to Christmas but that citizens should appreciate the need to secure a better future for themselves by electing competent officers to lead the process of development at the local level.
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