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General News of Monday, January 28, 2019
Source: Starrfmonline.com
2019-01-28
President of the European Commission, Jean Mensa
The president of the Ghana Electoral Commission, Jean Mensa, denounced the high cost of holding elections in the country.
Ms. Mensa, who spoke at the 17th International Symposium on Electoral Matters, called for measures to minimize the costs of holding elections in Ghana.
According to her, the cost of the 2016 elections was more than $ 12 per elector, compared to $ 9 in Nigeria and $ 5 in Tanzania in 2015.
She added that the tendency to depend on developing partners to partially finance the cost of elections in Ghana undermines the independence of the elections.
"Our elections are quickly becoming very expensive projects and we are constantly counting on our development partners to partially finance our elections, thus compromising our independence.
"For example, in 2016, the cost of elections in Ghana was $ 12 per voter, compared to $ 9 in Nigeria and $ 5 per voter in Tanzania in 2015. How can election monitoring bodies streamline their processes to reduce costs, "said Ms. Mensa.
His comments come after the former executive director of the Ghana Center for Democratic Development (Ghana CDD) last August challenged the new leadership of the Electoral Commission (EC) to reduce the cost per voter for the country.
Professor Emmanuel Gyimah-Boadi noted that the per capita cost of a general election in Ghana, high unjustifiable, set at $ 12.03 per voter in 2016 was expensive.
"I dare say that at this price, one day, it may be impossible for Ghana to hold elections," he said.
He believes that the cost per voter is one of the obstacles to inclusive democratic representation within the election management body.
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