The National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) will be organizing presidential and parliamentary debates across the country from September, ahead of the 2020 general elections.
The NCCE on Friday said it will organize three presidential candidates’ debate in three zones: Northern, Middle and Southern in September, October and November in collaboration with Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC).
The Commission would also organise parliamentary candidates’ debate in all 275 constituencies and undertake door to door/dawn and dusk broadcast on voter turn-out from September to December.
Mrs Joyce Afutu, NCCE Director of Public Affairs told the Ghana News Agency in an interview that the Commission would also roll-out civic awareness programmes to enable the public to demand accountability from public officials whilst intensifying education on electoral offences and sanctions.
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The NCCE will scale-up engagements with identifiable groups on civic and voter education, show relevant documentaries, and films in communities to promote non-violent political atmosphere, and public education on the Public Order Acts, Mrs Afutu stated.
She said the NCCE as part of measures to increase public awareness, it would embarked on door to door public education on the electoral process to whip-up voter turnout and broadcast civic and voter education messages using cinema and other vans.
“We will use Radio and Community Information centres to educate the electorate on the need to participate in the elections; participate in election observation,” she said
The NCCE would also engage in post-election education on good governance and peaceful co-existence.
She said as part of measures to kill electoral violence, the commission has adopted measures to empower the youth to understand the tenets of the Public Order Act and the Code of Conduct of Political Parties to curb politically motivated violence.
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The NCCE is collaborating with strategic state institutions including the Ghana Police Service, Judicial Service, Electoral Commission, National Media Commission, Community Radio Network, National Peace Council, Ghana Police Service and Small Arms and Light Weapons Commission to empower the youth to stand against violence.
Source: Prime News / Files from GNA
