Education, employment, and health are the top three voter concerns-NCCE

Story by : Joyce Kpeglo

The National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) has highlighted education, employment, and healthcare ranked as the most pressing issues for voters ahead of the 2024 election while speaking to the media yesterday,October 23.

According to the NCCE’s Director of Research, Monitoring, and Evaluation, Dr. Henrietta Sarpong, many voters are particularly concerned with concerns relating to the Free Senior High School (SHS) program, with younger voters more concerned about job opportunities.

“The top five ranked issues were education, employment, health, roads and infrastructure and issues related to the economy. Other issues were in regrads to sports and climate change’. She said

At the launch of the report, Dr. Henrietta Sarpong, expressed concern over the ongoing issues in these sectors, as they reflect the electorate’s dissatisfaction and their desire for improved policies and services.

In relation to the gender demographics, Dr. Sarpong noted that there were more working females than men were concerned about addressing issues relating to the economy and inflation while there were more men concerned about issues regarding roads and infrastructure.

“When it comes to roads and infrastructure, the men are keen on that and when it comes to the economy, and inflation among others, we have more females than males” She added.

The NCCE launched a report on voter concerns as well as expectations for the upcoming 2024 elections. In addition to voters’ expressed worries, the report included predictions of electorate conduct and expectations.

NCCE’s Chairperson Katleen Addy expressed grave concern about voters who were willing to resort to violence to address any issue they encountered during the electoral process, such as electoral malpractices.

‘We have people who are willing to say on record that yes, they’re willing to participate in violent activities at least for one reason or the other, it should be a great source of worry to all well-meaning Ghanaians.’

Chairperson Addy stressed the electoral committee’s role in restoring public trust in the voting system and preventing the occurrence of electoral violence.
“As citizens, we must work collectively to instill trust in the government mechanisms that have been established. “So that people are not compelled to take violent action,” she emphasized.