The Minister of Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah has appealed to the media to support government's campaign on the election of Metropolitan ,Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCE's).

According to the Ministry the referendum and District Assembly elections are set to be held on the 17th December 2019.

Speaking at the information Ministry's weekly media briefing in Bolgatanga, the Minister admonished the media and stakeholders to help sensitize and whip up support for the elections as at least a 40% turn out is needed during the elections for a Yes vote.

"There will be the need to have at least a 40% turn out, out of which at least 75% of people casting valid votes should vote Yes.
"This requires high level of public education and campaigns to get people fully sensitized to take up this real opportunity" he addressed.

Background

The Electoral Commission (EC) has now settled on December 17, this year for the referendum on the election of metropolitan, municipal and district chief executives (MMDCEs).

Earlier, the EC had fixed December 10, 2019, for the referendum.

The Director of Electoral Services at the EC, Dr Serebour Quaicoe, announced the new date at the launch of a coalition formed by some civil society organisations (CSOs) to push for the election of MMDCEs in Accra yesterday.

He said the change in the date was occasioned by the delay caused by the injunction application by a citizen, Mr Umar Ayuba, to the Supreme Court to stop the limited registration of voters which formed part of activities in the road map to the referendum.

Mr Ayuba filed the injunction against the EC's decision to limit the limited voters registration exercise to its district offices on grounds that the move would disenfranchise many people.

The Apex Court dismissed the injunction on June 12, this year, but Dr Serebour said the legal action had affected their timelines, hence the change in the date for the referendum.