Change 2024 polls date from Saturday to another day – SDA to EC

The Seventh-Day Adventist Church is proposing an amendment to the December 7, 2024, date for the general elections.

In a petition to the Electoral Commission and the Attorney General, the church stated that the date, which falls on a Saturday, conflicts with the Sabbath—a holy day they’ve dedicated to the worship of God.

The church is proposing the adoption of “the first (1st) or second (2nd) Tuesday of November” as the new date for Ghana’s general elections, which it said needs to be codified to guarantee Adventists the freedom to worship.

“In anticipation of changing the date for general elections from December 7 to the first (1st) or second (2nd) Tuesday of November, the leadership of the Seventh-day Adventist Church met with the Electoral Commission (EC) on Wednesday, June 7, 2023.

“The Church proposed to the EC a change from the December 7 date to the 1st or 2nd Tuesday of November in a general elections’ year.”

James Kwabena Bomfeh, Deputy Head of Religious Liberty at the Seventh-Day Adventist Church, justified the proposal in a Citi News interview, stating that it would provide enough time to prepare for the subsequent transition process.

He argued that if adopted, the proposal would also give traditional worshippers the chance to fully participate in the elections, as they often stay off their farms on Tuesdays.

“We do have enough time between elections and swearing-in, and also to allow for a smooth exchange of files and processes between outgoing regimes and incoming ones. We will have a day, therefore, in this sense, Tuesday, where in the traditional society, those who go to the farm relieve themselves of farming duties and stay at home; those who go fishing stay at home to also rest and participate massively in the elections.”