By Dennis Peprah, GNA
Sunyani, Dec. 01, GNA – Ten female aspirants are contesting the upcoming District level Elections in the Sunyani Municipality, the Electoral Commission (EC) has said.
According to Mr Jonah Seli, a Returning Officer at the Sunyani Municipal Directorate of the EC, the female aspirants were among the 101 aspirants, (91 males) who filed to contest the election in the 34 electoral areas in the municipality.
Comparatively, he said the number of women contesting the election was encouraging, saying only three women contested in the previous elections held in 2019, an increase of about 17.1 per cent.
In accordance with the District Level Elections Regulations, 2015 (C.I. 89), the Electoral Commission will conduct the District Level Elections on the 19th of December 2023.
This follows the expiration of the term of the Assembly and Unit Committee Members on the 17th of December 2023.
In an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Sunyani, Mr Seli described the 6.5 per cent turnout in the voter exhibition exercise as poor, indicating that many people did not still understand the concept of the local government structure.
He said the municipality had 250 polling stations adding so far 152 aspirants comprising 126 male and 26 females had picked nomination forms to contest the unit committee elections too.
Four electoral areas recorded zero nominations in the unit committee elections.
On the voting day, Mr Seli preferential treatment would be provided for pregnant women, people with disabilities, and the aged to cast their ballot, reminding that only the Voters Identification Card could be used for voting.
Nonetheless, he said opportunity had been provided for the electorate who had registered but lost their voters ID cards to exercise their franchise as well.
Voting, Mr Seli said, remained a fundamental human right, and advised all registered voters to go to their various polling stations in their numbers and participate so that the 2023 DLEs would register an impressive turnout.
He, however, called for intensified public education for the electorate to understand and appreciate the need to participate in the upcoming DLEs to help deepen the local government concept.
GNA