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The Center for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana) has described the creation of new constituencies by the Electoral Commission as ill timed and inconsistent with Article 47 of the 1992 Constitution.
The EC has proposed the creation of 45 new constituencies based on population growth from the 2010 census figures.
However, the Commission has been criticised by some political parties and civil society groups over the decision.
Speaking to Citi News, the Head of Research and Programmes at CDD-Ghana, Dr. Franklin Oduro, said the creation of the new constituencies exposes the weak institutional structures in the country.
According to him, “the procedure and the formula that the EC has adopted in exercising its constitutional mandate do not necessarily reflect the Constitution, Article 47 and so we believe that the procedure is not in the best interest of this country.”
Dr. Oduro further explained that the practice of creating new constituencies due to an increase in population is not financially sustainable saying, “the whole notion that a review of the constituency boundaries necessarily leads to an increment in the number of parliamentary seats is something that we need to look out and think about because it is not sustainable and financially, has some problems associated with it.”
He therefore proposed a ceiling on the number of constituencies the EC can create.
Source: Citifmonline
