Chairman of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Johnson Asiedu Nketia, has urged the Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) Church and other religious bodies to support a proposed amendment to Ghana’s Constitution to fix national elections on Tuesdays.
According to him, fixing voting day on a specific weekday would help prevent unnecessary disagreements between political parties, the Electoral Commission (EC), and religious bodies whenever election dates clash with major days of worship
Speaking at the centenary celebration of the SDA Church at Sekyedumase in the Ashanti Region, Mr Nketia said the proposed amendment would provide a lasting solution to the recurring concerns over election dates.
He recalled that ahead of the 2024 general elections, both the SDA Church and the Saviour Church appealed to him to support their calls for the EC to move the elections from Saturday, which is observed as the Sabbath by Seventh-day Adventists.
“I was appealed to by both the SDA Church and the Saviour Church to support their call on the Electoral Commission to shift the 2024 elections from Saturday,” he said.
Mr Nketiah noted that similar concerns had been raised by the Islamic community and other Christian denominations in the past whenever election dates coincided with Fridays or Sundays, which are significant days of worship for some religious groups
He said such recurring disagreements could be avoided if the Constitution was amended to permanently fix national elections on Tuesdays.
“We cannot continue to have these needless arguments every election year over whether the election date falls on a day of worship,” he said.
He therefore appealed to the SDA Church and other religious organisations to support the proposed constitutional amendment.
“I am appealing to the SDA Church and all other religious bodies to support this proposal so that we can have a permanent solution to this problem,” he added.
Mr Nketia said the move would ensure that all religious groups could observe their days of worship without being affected by national elections.
