Former President John Mahama is urging Ghanaians to go out in their numbers to vote in the district level elections.
The election is being held today all across the country to elect assembly members and unit committee members.
John Mahama who is leading the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) into the 2020 polls said the district level elections has enhanced grassroots participation in governance in the country and it empowers citizens to be directly involved in governance.
In a Facebook post on Tuesday, he said;
District Level Elections has since its inception ensured grassroots participation in the governance of our country. Through the unit committees & representation in the Assemblies, our people have had the opportunity to be directly involved in governance at the local level.
As we go to the polls across the country to elect new members to the assemblies and unit committees, I wish all aspirants well and encourage all eligible Ghanaians to step out between now and 5.00pm to cast our votes.
The exercise started 7am and will end at 5pm.
There are 57,030 candidates contesting this year’s elections.
The Electoral Commission says it has deployed some 58,000 biometric verification devices, 159,000 trained electoral officers as well as the voter registers for all polling stations across the country for the elections.
About 48,000 security personnel making up the National Elections Security Task Force (NESTF) has also been deployed to ensure safety at polling stations and collation centres across the country.
The personnel are from the Ghana Police Service, Ghana Prisons Service, Ghana Immigration Service, Ghana National Fire Service, and the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority.
Meanwhile, local election observer group, CODEO, is encouraging the electorate to actively participate in the exercise.
Acting Co-Chair, Sheikh Armiyawo Shaibu says this is necessary to ensure quality in local governance.
CODEO urges all voters to vote for competent persons regardless of age, gender or disability. Voters should also obey electoral laws in the country to support free, fair and credible elections.”
CODEO has about 1,000 election observers sent out to observe the electoral process.
