A bunch of MPs from the opposition Nationwide Democratic Congress (NDC) have petitioned the occasion management over controversial and unconstitutional provisions within the occasion’s 2026 inside election pointers.
The petition, addressed to the occasion’s common secretary and copied to the Useful Government Committee (FEC) and the Nationwide Government Committee (NEC), challenges a directive that prohibits sure civil servants from contesting their positions throughout the occasion.
The petitioners, Sinare Toufik Sinare, Ibrahim Tuzeh Abdul-Raheem, and Aminu Suleiman, argue that this restriction violates elementary civil and political rights assured by Ghana’s 1992 Structure.
They are saying that stopping ministers, chief government officers and chief metropolis, municipal and district executives (MMDCEs) from contesting occasion positions is tantamount to suppressing legit political participation.
They cited Article 12, Part 1 of the Structure, which requires all organizations, together with political events, to uphold elementary human rights.
The petitioners additionally referred to the suggestions of the professional committee that drafted Ghana’s constitutional framework, which emphasised the correct of residents to take part freely in political life with out repression.
The group additional questioned the compatibility of this directive with the NDC’s personal structure, notably Article 40(2), which requires candidates in search of nationwide government positions to have expertise in occasion or authorities workplace.
They argued that the brand new pointers contradicted that provision in that they concurrently acknowledged and restricted expertise gained by the civil service.
Along with eligibility restrictions, the petition additionally raises considerations about instructional necessities for research committee members. The petitioners argue that this situation may drawback occasion branches in rural areas.
They additional criticized age restrictions imposed on some youth organizer positions, notably rules that cap eligibility for sure regional youth roles at 40 years of age.
In accordance with the petitioners, this restriction may violate Article 17 of the Structure, which prohibits discriminatory remedy based mostly on arbitrary classification.
The group is demanding a assessment of the controversial clause and calling on the occasion management to align the rules with constitutional ideas and the beliefs on which the NDC was based.
In addition they need the FEC to analyze the matter and the NEC to think about it by its inside dispute decision course of.
