Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) has fixed Friday, March 31, 2017 for elections to be held to elect national and regional officers of the Association.
Nominations for the various positions including President, Vice President, General Secretary, Organising Secretary, Treasurer, Public Affairs Officer and Corporate-Member Representative open today February 6, 2017.
According to GJA, nominations will be closed at 5:00 pm on Monday, February 20, 2017.
A statement signed by the General Secretary of the GJA Elections Committee, Mr. David Agbenu, explained that in accordance with Article 47 of the GJA Constitution on General Election Requirements; only members in good standing shall have the right to vote. Affiliate, student and honourary members are not qualified to vote or contest any National Executive position.
In accordance with Article 47, candidates vying for National Executive positions shall be full members of the Association for at least five years and must be in good standing at least 90 days before the elections. Two members in good standing, both of whom shall not come from the same media organisation, shall endorse the nomination papers of a candidate. The statement said any member with a criminal record involving fraud, stealing or dishonesty, was disqualified from contesting any elected position in the Association.
Nominations fees for the various positions are: President—GHC1,000,00; Vice President and General Secretary—GHC800,00 each; Organising Secretary, Treasurer, Public Affairs Officer and Corporate Member Representative—GHC500,00 each.
The nominations fee for the regional branch chairperson was pegged at GH¢ 500.00 while all other regional branch executive positions of the GJA will attract GH¢ 300.00.
The Elections Committee also announced the formation of a three-member elections committee to conduct elections of GJA positions, with Benedict Assorow, a senior journalist and immediate past Director of Communications, Symposium of Episcopal Conference of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM) as Chairman; Mr. Kawa Kpodo, Reuters Correspondent in Ghana and Mr. Osei Kojo; Senior Lecturer of GIJ are members and journalist and officer of Elections of the Electoral Commission, Mrs. Syvia Annor as technical advisor.
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