One hundred and nine aspirants in Sunyani have submitted their nomination forms to participate in the district level election on March 3.
Out of that number, only 11 are female. They will be contesting with 98 men to win votes in 34 electoral areas.
The electoral areas in the Sunyani Municipal Assembly include Sunyani, Baakoniaba, Asufufu (popularly known as Watchman), Abonsua, Penkwase-Lowcost, Atronie, New Dormaa, Nkwabeng, Asuakwaa, Penkwase, Kotokrom and Yawhima.
The Sunyani Municipal Director of the National Commission for Civic Education, Mr Eric Adu, said so far 244 people had filed their nomination to contest this year’s Unit Committee elections in the municipality, with 27 being females.
At a stakeholders meeting to educate the aspirants on the local government system, he said there was the need to encourage women to confidently participate in the election.
Discussing the topic: “The Structure and Functions of the District Assemblies/Unit Committees,” Mr Yaw Opoku, Sunyani Municipal Director of the Electoral Commission, said winning an election did not require physical strength or intimidation but working hard through the processes of the electoral laws prescribed by the state.
He said internationally, Ghana’s electoral system had been graded the third-best in the world apart from India and Canada.
In a related development, a 49-year-old hairdresser, Ms Becky Hesse Lartey, is contesting three men for the assembly member position in the Sakaman Electoral Area, Greater Accra Region.
Poor drainage system, security concerns, difficulties in garbage collection and the large number of deprived children are some of the challenges Ms Lartey has identified in the area and has purposed to tackle with urgency when given the nod.
The prospective assembly member, who said she had lived in the area for about 45 years, would be counting on the support of the Member of Parliament for Ablekuma North, the Sub-Metro, the Hydrology Department of the Ministry of Water Resources, Works and Housing and an international non-governmental organisation (NGO) to solve these problems.
Ms Lartey stated this in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Accra during which she discussed her vision for the Sakaman Electoral Area.
She stressed that Sakaman was a low-lying area and, therefore, prone to floods anytime it rained heavily, thus putting the lives and property of residents in danger.
Everything possible, she said, would, therefore, be done to solve the problem through intense lobbying at the appropriate quarters to make life comfortable for the people.
Neighbourhood watchdog committees, Ms Lartey said, would be formed in collaboration with the Dansoman and Odorkor police commands to check armed robbers who terrorised residents.
The contestant said as a result of the high cost allegedly charged by the waste management companies for refuse collection in the electoral area, a lot of waste was dumped into drains by those who could not afford the fee, thus choking them.
To solve the problem, she said she would table a motion at the assembly for the company to be invited for negotiation towards reducing the charge.
Regular clean-up exercises would be organised in collaboration with unit committee members to keep the environments clean, she said.
To show that she meant business, Ms Lartey said she had, with the assistance of some volunteers, started de-silting some choked gutters in some communities.
The poor road network in the area, she also said, would be addressed vigorously by lobbying through the Member of Parliament and the Sub-Metro.
Ms Lartey, therefore, appealed to the electorate to elect her so that she could push her development agenda through.
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