Former Afigya Kwabre South Constituency Chairman of the New Patriotic Party(NPP) Odeneho Kwaku Appiah also known as COKA has stated that voting in an election is a civic responsibility and a Godly work.
This, he explained, should be among the reasons why the Seventh Day Adventist (SDA) community should be encouraged to have a change of mind to take part in the 2024 general election.
This year’s election, which is slated for Saturday December 7 per the constitution will fall on the Sabbath Day, and that poses a faith or religious disadvantage to the SDA community who see Saturday as holy and a day of resting.
However, COKA in a social media platform (Facebook) message has bemoaned the situation, saying no one should be disenfranchised because of faith.
According to him, if the SDA community refuses to partake in the activity, it will greatly cause the election and the nation as a whole.
“No one should be disenfranchised because of his or her faith. Yes, the Sabbath day (Saturday) holds deep spiritual significance for Adventists but they know that Sabbath was made to meet the needs of people and not the other way round,” he noted.
COKA said available statistics indicated that the SDA community held a considerable amount of electorate.
“The SDA has a church strength of over 800,000 members with a youth wing population of 70% of this figure.
“We have seen a political party win an election with less than 50,000 votes and therefore the SDA community cannot be left out from December 7 voting,” COKA pleaded.
He urged the leadership of the Church to encourage their members to vote on December 7, saying that the church’s petition to Parliament and the Electoral Commission will be supported by all political parties in subsequent elections to come.
“I think the leadership of the church has done well to engage Parliament and the Electoral Commission to lobby them to in the future change the law on 7th December as voting day to 1st Tuesday of November to enable all sects to vote on election day. This, all stakeholders including all political parties have agreed to put measures in place to ensure that in the 2028 elections, the law is changed to favour all religious groups.
“Whiles we wait for the future change of the law on December 7, I want to plead with you (SDA leadership) that please encourage your members to go and vote in December 7,” he concluded.
