High cost of elections worries – President of the EC

Ms. Jean Mensa – President of the Electoral Commission

Ms. Jean Mensa, President of the Electoral Commission (EC), lamented the high cost of organizing elections in the country.

She said the phenomenon, which had led Ghana to rely on its development partners to partly finance national elections, was counterproductive.

Speaking at the opening of the 17th International Symposium on Electoral Matters and International Election Awards in Accra, Ms. Mensa called for measures to reduce the cost of holding elections.

The two-day event, the first to be held in sub-Saharan Africa, brings together more than 100 election stakeholders from around the globe.

It is organized by the London-based International Center for Parliamentary Studies (ICTUS) in collaboration with the EC and the Ghana Center for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana).

Organized around the theme: "Building Innovative Strategies for Better Global Electoral Systems", the event aims to bring together election practitioners, political parties, civil society actors, academics and civil society. Other key players in the electoral area to discuss relevant issues related to elections. .

Numbers

Providing figures to support her badertion at the international symposium, the EC President compared the recent elections in Ghana, Nigeria and Tanzania.

In the 2016 general election in Ghana, she said, the cost was over $ 12 per voter, compared to $ 9 in Nigeria in 2015 and $ 5 in Tanzania in 2015.

"How can election monitoring agencies streamline their processes to reduce costs?" She asked.

Similar concerns

Last August, Professor Emmanuel Gyimah-Boadi, co-founder of the Afrobarometer Network, launched a challenge to the European Commission headed by Jean Mensa, which aimed to reduce by at least 50% the cost per voter in the elections of 2020 .

Speaking at the 14th series of lectures "Kronti Akwamu" in Accra, the well-known political scientist and former executive director of the CDD expressed concern over the high cost of elections in the country and voiced the same. hope that this cost could be significantly reduced if the EC implemented the right measures.

"I think that someday, it may be literally impossible for Ghana to hold elections. I therefore challenge the new EC leaders to halve the cost of elections in Ghana by 2020. Uganda has, Tanzania did. and Ghana should be able to do that, "he said.

Addiction

Nor is the President of the EC enthusiastic about the fact that it has become customary for the country to depend on developing partners to partially finance the elections in Ghana.

She argued that this development called into question the independence of the elections.

"Our elections are becoming very expensive businesses and we are constantly counting on our development partners to partially finance our elections, thereby compromising our independence," she said.

To solve the problem, she suggested viable measures that would minimize the addiction syndrome.

Importance of elections

While affirming that the electoral system was the pillar of democracy, Ms. Mensa stressed the need to jealously protect the electoral process.

"It gives legitimacy to our leaders and our democratic institutions and, therefore, it must not only be preserved, but especially strengthened," she said of the electoral system.

Ms. Mensa also spoke of the need to strengthen the electoral management bodies.

This, she explained, would ensure that citizens value the processes that elected their leaders as free, credible and transparent.

While urging Ghanaians to trust the EC to hold free and fair elections in 2020, she also urged political parties to be actively involved in the processes leading to elections.

"It is essential that political parties participate freely in the electoral process and it is essential that the right of citizens to express their preferences be protected and guaranteed," she said.

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