The party believes such an amendment will pave the way for smaller parties, which have strong bases in some of the districts, to also have a say in the development of the country, particularly at the local government level.

The General Secretary of the party, Mr Ato Dadzie, who spoke to journalists at the Ashanti Regional Congress of the party in Kumasi, said the party believed that the development of the country should be directed by a party’s policy and not left at the discretion of individuals.

“What agenda is the individual coming to pursue? His personal vision or that of the district? We believe that political parties have research background that is backing their development agenda but how will the individual’s development agenda be monitored?

We believe that partisan politics should be introduced into the system so that if a political party is not performing at the local level, it could affect its fortunes at the next polls”, he said.

Yes Vote

According to him, allowing political parties to contest district assembly elections would decentralise the system.

He thus called on Ghanaians to vote ‘Yes’ at the referendum on December 17.

He commended the government for the introduction of the Free Senior High School (SHS) policy which he said had relieved many parents of the burden of school fees.

Again, he said the Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ) initiative fell in line with the development agenda of the GCPP, which is “eat what we grow”.

He appealed to the government to speed up the industrialisation process to ensure that farmers get ready market for their produce.

Notwithstanding these initiatives, he said there was still hardship in the system and cited the high cost of fuel and goods and services as some of the things that needed the government’s attention.

Congress

Mr Dadzie said the party was readying itself for the next general election to take up the reins of government and bring relief to Ghanaians.

He added that the party was holding its regional elections to pave the way for the national congress that would elect new national executive members.

All the regional executive were elected through popular acclamation as all the contestants went unopposed.

The region is under the chairmanship of Mr Kofi Owusu Omar; Kwadwo Kyei Berko as Vice Chairman, Mohammed Awal as Secretary and Arif Sani Suleiman as Education Secretary.

The rest are Alex Akyena, Treasurer; Awudu Razak Minikaara, Organiser; Gifty Zemu, Women’s Organiser; Osei Yaw, Youth Organiser, and Osei Bonsu, Public Relations Officer.

The congress was attended by executives from all the constituencies within the Ashanti Region.