Kumasi, Nov. 12, GNA – IBIS Ghana, a non-governmental organisation (NGO) is funding aspiring women parliamentarians as well as providing them with logistics to enable them to campaign effectively towards Election 2004.
Mr Delasi Amable, Programme Officer of IBIS Ghana, said the organisation in collaboration with Ashanti Region Network of NGOs had been building the capacity of the women aspirants to enable them to acquire skills in the presentation of their manifestos to the electorate.
He was speaking at a roundtable discussions on political tolerance and affirmative action organised by the Ashanti Region Network of NGOs and IBIS Ghana, a Danish NGO in Kumasi on Thursday.
More than 60 participants including Women Parliamentary Candidates, the Media and representatives of some NGOs attended the workshop. It was aimed at sharing ideas and views on how to promote aspiring women parliamentarians in this year’s elections. Mr Samuel Yorke-Aidoo, Ashanti Regional Director of Electoral Commission (EC), said the Commission was doing everything possible to ensure free and fair elections.
He reiterated that the EC had no intention whatsoever, to create problems that would mar the elections, explaining that the introduction of the photo identification into the electoral process pointed to the determination of the Commission to ensure free and fair elections. Mr Yorke-Aidoo appealed to the various political parties to educate their agents on the need to comport themselves at the polling stations during the elections. On the declaration of the results, he stressed the need for the polling agents to ensure that the declaration forms were duly signed to make them authentic. Mr John Owusu, Chairman of the Ashanti Region Network of NGOs, said the workshop had enabled the aspiring women parliamentarians to gain more self-confidence, which would enable them to send their campaign messages out properly.
He noted that the interaction had also enabled the Media to re-focus attention on the positive promotion of aspiring women parliamentarians.
Miss Olivia Berko, People’s National Convention (PNC) Parliamentary Candidate for Effiduase-Asokore, appealed to the organisers to include some political party supporters in the next workshop to educate them on the need to ensure peace at the elections. Mr Kusi Abora, Ashanti Regional Director of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), called on the political parties to use decent language in their campaigns to avoid tensions and conflicts.
