<<Print>>

Mrs Charlotte Osei, Chairperson of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), has urged women to be bold and put themselves up for election into the district assemblies and unit committees. ����� She said they should refuse to be frightened, intimidated or bullied in any way, adding that, it was time they became more assertive and strive to be part of the political decision making.� ����� She made the call at a day�s stakeholders� forum held in the Ejisu Municipality for candidates contesting the upcoming district level elections by the Commission with support from the European Union. ����� The goal was to help them to conduct clean campaign devoid of acrimony to ensure a peaceful and successful poll. ����� It also provided the platform to discuss why women and people with disability tend not to be interested in the contest for elective positions and how to change this. ����� Among the participants were aspiring assembly and unit committee members, officials of the Electoral Commission, heads of decentralized departments, chiefs and civil society organizations. ����� Mrs. Osei spoke against personal attacks and defacing of campaign posters, pointing out that these were an infraction of the law and should be reported to the law enforcement agencies. ���� She again cautioned against political party sponsorship and said it was important for all to remember that the assembly and unit committee elections are non partisan. ���� She appealed to voters to elect competent people, committed to the development of their communities. ����� The participants expressed concern about the conduct of some District Chief Executives (DCEs), who have been opening campaigning for some of the contestants. ����� They also suggested that women candidates and people with disability should be given funding support. ����� Out of the 174 candidates who have filed their nomination to contest the elections in the municipality, only 18 of them are women.