District Assembly Common Funds are spent in Accra including for double needless corrupt sanitation contracts. District Chief Executives (DCEs) complain but only privately. The DCE job has become compensation for those who lost party primaries etc. and favoured for bootlicking but not necessarily qualified. Presidents hand the job to people they will otherwise not hire to manage their one-acre cassava farms, and sack them at will as just happened last Friday.

Small district funds used to host visiting party people etc. I want a DCE who can stand up to the President or the Executive for his community and not suffer for doing right by his or her people. I want the most qualified man/woman to have a better chance of winning DCE elections without having to compete with people who built a war chest for that job by rape of the public purse.

I stand with the majority 76% of Ghanaians who said in the CDD surveys that they prefer non-partisan DCE elections as enshrined in articles 55 and 248. The brazen violation of those provisions must be stopped and not promoted.

Read also: Samson's Take: What it means to vote a dangerous 'yes' on Dec 17

Corruptions is prohibited, we are getting overwhelmed and impoverished by corruption. Shall we amend the law to allow it? UGANDA, INDIA and CANADA do what we already have and insist on it. There would not be a debate if President Akufo-Addo had not fearfully grabbed the ball just when citizens dribbled to scoring and keeping all three points in the game in December 2019.

What needs amending is Article 243 by (easy and cheap) Parliament to take from the President the power to appoint DCEs, and not an expensive national referendum to amend article 55(3)'s prohibition of political parties sponsoring candidates for DCE and Local Government Units.

Where are the dividends of democracy? Our Democracy is hijacked by ugly partisanship. Don’t further endanger it. Don’t further weaken the voice and authority of local governance. Vote a biiig NO anytime!

I remain the proud INITIATOR and Chief Crusade for a “NO” vote leading to the botched needless 2019 referendum.

FEBRUARY 6, 2024

SAMSON LARDY ANYENINI