Accra, Aug. 3, GNA - The Ghana Centre for Democratic Development (CDD) says widespread uncertainty still hangs over the conduct of the forthcoming District Assembly Elections in the Yendi District and Tamale Metropolitan Assemblies despite the directive given to the Electoral Commission by the Ministry of Local Government to proceed with the vote. In its second report on the pre-election environment ahead of the September 12 District level election, CDD said some people in these two areas were not convinced that the elections would take place.

It said the usual anxiety and lobbying, which had characterized local elections in the past, was totally absent in the two districts. "Many people are simply unperturbed and are going about their normal activities," it said, adding that people held the view that the conduct of elections in the two areas was a waste of national resources."

CDD, therefore, called on the Ministry, the Electoral Commission and the National Commission for Civic Education to collaborate effectively to ensure that the message got to the grassroots as quickly as possible and very clearly.

The Centre said its monitoring team countrywide had reported very little interest in the filing of nominations for Unit Committee elections as compared to the Assembly elections.

The report cited Kpeshie District in the Greater Accra Region and New Juaben Districts in the Eastern Region as some of the areas that registered low nominations for the Unit Committee elections. According to the monitors some Units had recorded no candidate at all, attributing the apathy to lack of motivation for unit committee members.

The report said partisan influence was not obvious in the filing of nominations although many prospective candidates were perceived to be activists of political parties.

For instance, in two electoral areas in the Kintampo South constituency, traditional rulers of the town impressed upon one of the candidates to step down for another candidate, arguing that they both belonged to the same political party.

There are also reports of candidates branding their fellows as party activists in the Yendi District. In the Tema East Constituency it was alleged that some political party officials accompanied some candidates to the nomination centres.

The report noted the obvious influence of chiefs, traditional and community leaders in some electoral areas, especially in the Ho Municipality and Sunson electoral area in the Yendi District. The report said female participation in the electoral process appeared to be gaining grounds in some of the constituencies. The CDD commended the Ministry of Women and Children's Affairs, ABANTU for Development and some traditional leaders for their keen interest in encouraging and promoting women to contest the polls.