The national executive election of the Musicians Union of Ghana (MUSIGA), has been postponed for the second time amidst a legal suit by one of the presidential aspirants to stop the election.
Although the Election Committee, in a statement said the postponement was to allow the National Electoral Commission, which would supervise the elections, to complete its national limited registration exercise, it I believed the postponed was influenced by a suit filed at the court against the event.
The MUSIGA election, which was postponed from June 26 to July 10, has now been postponed to Wednesday, July 17, but may depend on the outcome of the suit filed by
Ras Caleb Appiah-Levi, a presidential aspirant of the national who is seeking an injunction on the election.
In a press statement after filing the suit, Ras Caleb, who is the Greater Accra President of MUSIGA, expressed unhappiness about how election issues have been handled by the Election Committee, citing electoral breaches.
“As an aspirant, I have been watching the electioneering process with keen interest and I have come to the realisation that there are a lot of beaches in the electoral system especially from the roadmap to the current situation of the voter’s list/notice of musicians,” he noted.
Also, he does not believe in the credibility of the current Voters Register that has been published.
“Upon long awaiting and pressure from members and aspirants, the list has been released by the election committee purporting to be the voter’s list/ register. I found this to be quite unfortunate if indeed this is what the election committee is going to rely on as voter’s register for this upcoming election,” he further stated.
In his statement of claim, he is seeking a declaration that “the current Voters Register compiled by the Election Committee of the MUSIGA is not credible and same cannot, in its flawed state, be used for the conduct of the forthcoming 2019 National Executive Committee MUSIGA Elections to guarantee a fair and transparent outcome.”
He also wants the five-member Election Committee, chaired by Smart Nkansah, to “compile afresh an authentic and credible Voters Register.”
The Union has not commented on the legal action, except to explain the reason for the second postponement.
According to the Union, the second postponement is to “enable the Electoral Commission to complete its operational and administrative work on the just ended Limited Voter Registration exercise.”
That, it says, would allow the regional directors of the EC to conduct and supervise the union’s election in all the regions.
This is the first time all regional branches of the union are voting at their respective centres.
The Candidates
Ras Caleb Appiah-Levi, Ras Caleb Appiah-Levi, who is the current President of the Greater Accra Region is contesting legendary musicians, Bessa Simons, who had served as the National Vice President for the past eight years.
Gospel artiste, Rev. Dr Harry Thomas Yawson and CEO of Lynx Entertainment, Richard Karikari Mensah, are contesting for the 1st Vice President position.
Also for the 2nd Vice President slot, gospel artistes, Deborah Freeman and Ruth Benny Wood, known in showbiz circles as Abena Ruthy, are standing against each other.
Sylvia Bosompem Amponsah and Samuel Kofi Agyemang are competing in the General Secretary race.
Gifty Ghansah is vying for the National Welfare Officer, with Rev. Edward Edusa-Eyison eyeing National Treasurer position, while Chizzy Nii Adu Wailer is standing for the position of National Organiser.
By Edmund Mingle/ adrdaily.com
