Parliament Approves GH₵786.9 Million Budget for Electoral Commission

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Parliament approved a GH786.9 million budget for the Electoral Commission’s (EC) services for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2024 on Wednesday.

The House also urged the Finance Ministry to resolve the GH140.7 million shortfall in order to ensure the integrity of the processes and conduct of the 2024 Presidential and Parliamentary Elections.

Mr. Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, the Majority Leader and Leader of Government Business in Parliament, as well as the Chairman of Parliament’s Special Budget Committee, moved the resolution for the House to adopt the EC’s budgetary allocation.

He stated that the Commission had budgeted for the additional request of GH140.7 million, but the Finance Ministry could only allocate GH786.9 million to it.

“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.”

The Majority Leader indicated that the Special Budget Committee felt it was imperative to insist on paying GH140.7 million to the Electoral Commission (EC).

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The EC intends to carry out different initiatives and acquire equipment in order to successfully hold the Presidential and Parliamentary Elections in 2024.

These activities, according to the Majority Leader, include the purchase of additional BVDs (Biometric Verification Devices) and BVRs (Biometric Voter Registration machines) to increase the number of polling stations, the recruitment and training of electoral officers, the replacement of exited staff, the upgrade of the data center, and the purchase of ICT equipment.

To satisfy these vital demands, the EC made a budgetary proposal of GH932.03 million for the fiscal year 2024. However, the Finance Ministry only allocated GH786.9 million, resulting in a GH140.7 million budget gap.

The Special Budget Committee insisted on correcting this shortfall in order to ensure that the EC’s planned programs and activities were carried out effectively.

“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,” Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu said.  

“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.” 

Mrs. Patricia Appiagyei, Member of the Special Budget Committee and Chairperson of Parliament’s Committee on Government Assurance, who seconded the Motion, raised a problem concerning the usage of indelible ink during the District Level Elections on December 19th, 2023.

“Mr Speaker, we don’t know whether it is because of the harmattan or any other thing. We also noted, as we have rightly shown concern to the Commissioner or the Chair of the Electoral Commission, that the ink which we have been told that it was produced in Ghana is one that can easily be rubbed of. 

“We were rightly informed that the ink is never produced in Ghana, and at the same time we were also educated that what they have done is to even get rid of the indelible ink, currently nobody uses the indelible ink, and it was rightly proven yesterday. But we have shown serious concern about the use of that indelible ink.” 

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Mrs. Appiagyei stressed the significance of asking the Ministry of Finance to guarantee that the Electoral Commission (EC) is well-equipped to conduct credible elections in 2024. Mr. Kofi Iddie Adams, a National Democratic Congress (NDC) MP, emphasized the importance of continuing to utilize indelible ink to mark voters who had exercised their franchise.

Mr. Ahmed Ibrahim, Deputy Minority Whip and NDC MP for Banda, urged the House to ensure that the Finance Ministry provides financial allocations to the EC on schedule. Mr. Frank Annoh-Dompreh, Majority Chief Whip and NPP MP for Nsawam-Adoagyiri, also emphasized the importance of working together to ensure that sufficient money are made available to the electoral body to carry out its mandate.

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