Sarki Shaibu Salau III, the Zongo Chief of Ngleshie Amanfro in the Ga South Municipal Assembly, says the inability of the government to commit needed resources for development at the local level is a disincentive for participation in district-level elections.
The Chief, a Former Assemblyman and currently the Branch Chairman of the Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GRPTU) at Amanfro, observed that people were hesitant to put themselves up for district-level election due to the non-availability of resources for Assembly members to champion developmental goals.
“There are too many resource constraints, and it has made people not feel the effectiveness of the district-level elections,” he said during an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA).
He said the inability of Assembly members to fix basic needs of the people was the cause of apathy among the electorate.
Sarki Salau called on the Assembly to among other things complete the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFUND) funded basic school project to help end the shift system in the area, construct motorable roads and create jobs to solve unemployment issues and its related vices.
In the upcoming district level election on December 19, 2023, the Ngleshie Amanfro electoral area is keenly contested by three candidates.
The candidates are Mr Jonathan Odartey Lamptey, Mr Nii Sackey Eugene Aggudey, and Mr Joseph Kobina Fiamor.
The incumbent is not contesting.
In an interview, Mr Aggudey, the only “old face” and the first runner up in the previous district level election in the electoral area said he intended to leverage resources from other sources to develop the area.
“There are opinion leaders, landlords association, we have big men in the community who you can go to and lobby by telling them what you want to achieve and they will help you,” he said.
He raised concerns over the low publicity of the district level elections by the Electoral Commission (EC) and limited period for filing nominations for the election.
Source: GNA
