Jacob Osei Yeboah, the 2012 & 2016 Presidential Candidate and CO-Founder Ghana First Coalition (GFC) has backed a call by the Seventh-Day Adventist Church to have December 7, 2024 general elections rescheduled.
He argued that since 1992, elections have been held on 7th December on Saturday, Sunday, and Friday adding that two elections petitions occurred in 2012 and 2020, each going beyond the transition period by 7 January.
This trend he noted has been established, with various religious bodies demonstrating their understanding of the sacred duty to the nation and adhering to the constitutional mandate for transition.
According to him, notwithstanding these trends, the petition by the SDA church is righteous not only for Ghanaians religiosity but more importantly our anthropological disposition of the Day, Saturday, within a week in the Ghanaian society coupled with work and social life of our nation.
“Firstly, Saturdays are the shopping days for families in the hectic urban life with work schedules. The same Saturdays, especially the first Saturday of the month, are meant for weddings, funerals and other relevant social life of the Ghanaian and even the convenient days for other faith-based communities to use for other activities. The same Saturdays are days where rural pupils joined the parents to farms and Sea.
That is why the petition is a call to help settled for the conflict of interest of our social life and election days. The EC needs to take cognizance of the fact that voting in Ghana is not mandatory by law like some other jurisdictions and more importantly moving the day from Saturday may have a positive impact on elections turnout on Tuesdays,” he said.
The Seventh-day Adventist Church has petitioned the Electoral Commission (EC) to change the 2024 December 7 elections to another day.
The Church says the day will fall on a Saturday and that will serve them of exercising their right to vote.
The Church proposes shifting the elections from December 7 to the first or second Tuesday, as it conflicts with Sabbath, a holy day for God’s worship, and is more convenient for promoting inclusive democracy.
“In anticipation of changing the date for general elections from December 7 to the first (1st) or second (2nd) Tuesday of November, the Leadership of the Seventh-day Adventist Church met with the Electoral Commission (EC) on Wednesday, June 7.
“The Church proposed to the EC a change from the December 7 date to the 1st or 2nd Tuesday of November in a general elections’ year.”
The church has further planned to send a petition to the Attorney General, advocating for an amendment to the constitutional provisions that limit the duration of Ghanaian parliamentary and presidential elections.
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana