May Fair-play Lead

As the countdown to campaigns for the first-ever regional elections narrows to hours, competing political parties and traditional authorities are no doubt fine-tuning their strategies to woo as many electors as possible to plebiscite them on December 6, 2020. The two-week campaign to run from this November 21 to December 5, 2020 will certainly be a hectic period in the life of the country as none of the aspirants for the coveted positions of Regional Councillors would want to miss the historic privilege of being the pioneers. The campaign has legal basis in Section 87 (1 and 2) of the Electoral Code which states that, “The election campaign shall open on the 15th day preceding the election and close at midnight on the eve of the Election Day. Candidates may prepare circulars, manifestos or posters at their own expenses or that of the party presenting their candidatures.” 
Prior to tomorrow’s campaign launch, the different aspirants have been holding conclaves obviously to craft their manifestoes and devise the best possible channels and methods of passing the messages across to the targeted electors. Understandably so as in any elections, the electors must be convinced; objectively or not, that choosing one candidate and not the other would fetch him/her or the community what they had been yearning for. The coming days will therefore offer the aspiring parties and citizens the opportunity to come face-to-face with each other in what is going to be a ‘give and take’ rendezvous. 
As the candidates and their supporters get down to the field to canvass for the valuable votes, it would be wise to bear in mind that it is just an election like others. It is far from being a war that anyone would attempt to employ the most sophisticated of arsenals. It shouldn’t even be won at all cost. It should be viewed as a political game and like any game, victory can go either sides. The campaigners shouldn’t afford to use the moment to throw invectives, some of which might take time to heal. Cracks of division are already so visible on the national wall that any attempt to deepen them in the name of campaign would be devastating.  
If government opted for the full implementation of the long-drawn decentralisation, it is certainly to incite people participation in their own affairs and give local development a significant boost. Materialising the 24 December ...