Parliament has approved a total of GHC 786.9 million for the Electoral Commission (EC) to facilitate the upcoming general election.
Also, an additional GHC140.7 million as requested by the House is to be made to the commission. The total amount is to ensure that processes leading to the election, as well as the election itself are devoid of any form of compromise.
According to the Majority Leader in parliament, Osei-Kyei Mensah-Bonsu who also is the Chairman of the Special Budget Committee of Parliament, it is necessary for the Finance Ministry to make available the additional amount, in that it was what the Commission had budgeted.
Without the additional GHC140.7 million, the Electoral Commission is said not to be in a position to conduct the election” timeously” and “in a proper way.”
“The Commission insists that without the GH¢140.7 million, it will be difficult to conduct timeously and in a proper way, the Presidential and Parliamentary Elections as slated for December 2024,” said Mr. Mensah-Bonsu.
The said total amount is informed by the needs of the EC ahead of the election.
In view of some very important equipment needed to increase the number of polling stations for an uninterrupted election, the commission proposed a budget of GHC932.03 million for the election but it realized the finance ministry made an allocation with a shortfall of GHC140.7, the Majority leader said in parliament.
He therefore stressed the need for the extra amount to be made, in that it is necessary for the implementation of some planned programmes.
“Again, the Commission further informed that the shortfall would compel the Commission to reduce its critical activities necessary for a successful conduct of the 2024 general elections and therefore, appeals to the Committee to intervene to ensure that the proposed budgetary amount is approved and released on time to enable the Commission to undertake these planned programmes as scheduled.”
“The Committee is of the view that the activities of the Electoral Commission are time-bound and extremely critical to the stability of the country and therefore, any impediment in the way of the Commission may be costly to the country,” he said.
Source: Dehotpress
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