The Elections Committee of Ghana Journalists Association (GJA), on Thursday reminded members of the Association who are interested in filling their nominations to contest national executive positions to do so on Monday, January 14.
The nomination of candidates would take place at Ghana International Press Centre (GIPC), in Accra from 9am to 5 pm, while the venue for the regional elections would be fixed by the Regional Chairmen or any active person in the Association.
The nominations would close at 5 pm on February 28.
Article 48(a) of the GJA Constitution says: "Nominations for Executive positions shall be opened for a period of two weeks and shall be closed at least 30 calendar days to the polling day."
The positions being contested at the national level are: President, Vice President, General Secretary, Organising Secretary, Treasurer and Public Affairs Officer.
During a maiden meeting of the four- member Committee in Accra, it was decided that a list of members in good standing would be published in at least one selected daily newspaper by February 4 and not on February 8 as previously announced.
This was due to a provision in the GJA Constitution which makes it mandatory for the publication of a register of members of good standing 30 days before an election.
The meeting announced that the vetting of candidates would be completed on March 4.
The Elections Committee would organise the elections on March 8, with assistance from Electoral Commission.
The elections, would take place from 9 am to 5 pm at the following polling centres: GIPC, Ghana News Agency (GNA), Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC), Graphic Group of Communications Limited and TV3.
The regional elections would take place at GNA offices.
According to Article 47 of the GJA Constitution, only members of the Association in good standing, other than affiliates, students and honorary members shall have the right to vote.
Candidates who will vie for any of the executive positions shall be full members of the Association for at least five years and must be in good standing at least 90 days before elections.
Nomination of a candidate for a national executive position should be made by two members in good standing, both of whom should not come from the same media organisation.
The nomination fees for the position of President is GH¢150; Vice-President, GH¢120; General Secretary, GH¢120; Organising Secretary, GH¢100; Treasurer, GH¢100 and Public Affairs Officer, GH¢100.
In the case of regional branch elections, the nomination fee for the position of Regional Chairperson is GH¢50, while other regional branch positions would attract GH¢25.
Nomination of candidates, together with the requisite fees in cash or bankers’ draft in the name of the GJA, should be filed through the GJA Elections Committee, GIPC, P.O. Box GP4636, Accra on or before Thursday, February 28.
As required by the Constitution of the GJA, a three-member elections dispute adjudication committee will in due course be established by the Elections Committee.
The elections committee would, in consultation with regional branch executives, appoint an elections officer for each region to organise elections for new regional executives alongside those of national executives.
Members of the Elections Committee are: Mr Benedict Assorow, Director of Communications at Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar, Chairman; Mrs Betty Apau-Opong of GBC; Nana Kodjo Jehu-Appiah of GNA, and Mrs Marian Kyei of KAB Governance Consult.