First Vice Chairman of Asokwa Constituency of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Akwannuasa Gyimah has sternly cautioned the Electoral Commission (EC) and other relevant bodies against shifting the date for general elections from December 7 to November 7.
He suggested that Ghana should rather hold its general elections on the first Tuesday of November in every election year to help boost voter turnout.
According to him, Ghanaians are very religious people who don’t toy with their service to God. “If November 7, which is being considered as the next election date, coincides with any of the religious days that the people serve God, it might affect voter turnout.
Mr. Akwannuasa noted that if the election day falls on Friday, the probability that Muslims would choose their worship at the mosque ahead of voting would be very high, and it would eventually affect voter turnout.
He added that if November 7 also falls on Sunday or Saturday, Christians and the Seventh Day Adventist worshippers respectively would prefer going to church to worship God instead of wasting ample time just to vote for a particular candidate.
In line with this, Mr. Akwannuasa proposed that general elections in the country should henceforth be held on the first Tuesday of November of every election year.
He stated that traditionally several people don’t go to farm in the villages on Tuesdays, which is widely recognized in several communities in the country as a taboo day.
“General elections should attract massive patronage so that the suitable person would be elected to steer the affairs of the state, we should therefore not hold the elections on a day which will prevent people from exercising their franchise.”
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