Vote No in the referendum on the election of MMDCEs - NDC to Ghanaians

The party said the toxicity in our politics will degenerate to the local level therefore Ghanaians should vote no in a referendum scheduled for December 17.

In a press conference to media men in Accra, the NDC stated 7 reasons why the elections of MMDCEs shouldn't be a law.

"At the meeting held last Thursday, the NEC of the NDC affirmed our long held position that MMDCEs should be elected. We however took the view that the local government system should remain non-partisan and that individuals contest the District Assembly and Unit Committee elections on their own merit. We therefore decided to campaign for a NO vote at the referendum and to urge all Ghanaians to vote NO at the referendum", the party said.

"It is our well-considered view, and indeed that of well-meaning Ghanaians, that the needless NDCNPP polarization at the national level should not be extended into the District Assemblies and Unit Committees, which is what will happen if we vote to make the local government system partisan."

"The consequence of exporting this polarization into the District Assemblies is that very soon in our villages, there will be “NDC Communal Labour day” and “NPP Communal Labour day”. There will also be “NDC market” and “NPP market” And so on and so forth. We of the NDC believe that all our towns and villages should have one communal Labour Day, and one market and we can only achieve this by voting NO."

The National Commission on Civic Education (NCCE) has indicated that the national referendum scheduled for December 17 is to allow citizens vote for the amendment of the constitutional provision which currently prevents political parties from participating in District Level Elections (DLEs).

Samuel Ofosu Ampofo, NDC National Chairman Pulse Ghana

This is to clarify misinformation in sections of the media suggesting the referendum is for citizens to elect Metropolitan and Municipal District Chief Executives (MMDCEs).

“The Commission wishes to clarify that the 2019 National Referendum is to enable citizens to vote on the proposed amendment of Article 55 (3) of the 1992 Constitution that currently bars political parties from participating in District Level Elections (DLEs)."

“The proposed amendment is to introduce multi-party participation in the Local Government system in Ghana,” a statement from the NCCE clarified.