<<Print>>ASHANTI REGIONAL head of the Electoral Commission (EC), Paul Boateng, has expressed frustration and fury over the behaviour of what he termed as “some stubborn aspiring assembly members” in the upcoming district assembly polls. “Some of the aspirants in the upcoming district level assembly elections are very stubborn.
They have been blatantly told and cautioned to abstain from certain acts that are not permissible in the polls but they are still indulging in those acts.
“For instance, the EC has sternly warned the various aspirants that they are not allowed to use the colours of registered political parties in the country, but sadly, some of them are still flouting this simple order from the EC.”
According to him, his office had received several complaints from some aspirants to the effect that their opponents were using colours of known political parties in the country on their posters to aid their ambition of winning the elections.
He stated categorically that partisan politics has no place in the district assembly polls, maintaining that the EC had continually made this order known to the aspirants “but some stubborn aspirants would just not listen.”
Mr. Boateng, who sounded disturbed about the development, hinted that soon the EC would crack the whip on “those stubborn aspiring assembly members.”
He was speaking during a one-day workshop on Election Reporting, Constitutional Reform and Consensus Building, which was organized for journalists in Kumasi, the Ashanti Regional capital, on Wednesday.
A brainchild of the US Embassy in Ghana in collaboration with the Institute of Democratic Governance (IDEG), the workshop was geared towards building the capacity of the journalists so as to enhance their news delivery.
Mr. Boateng pointed out that apart from the political colours, the aspiring assembly members are also forbidden from using the emblem of a political party or campaigning in the name of any registered political party.
He stated that the EC was critically monitoring the activities and campaigns of the various aspirants in the region.
Kim Williams, Press Attache, US Embassy in Ghana and Prof. Susanna Wing, Associate Professor of Political Science, USA, in their respective deliveries, admonished journalists to always abide by the ethics of their profession.
Listowell Yesu Bukarson, Ashanti Regional Chairman of the Ghana Journalists’ Association (GJA), wholeheartedly thanked the US Embassy and IDEG for their strong passion to see journalism developed in Ghana.