Government to give EC additional Ghc400million

Europa

June 28, 2016 12:11 PM

The Electoral Commission budgeted for Ghc1.2 billion for the upcoming November polls while Ghc100 million would be used for other administerative purposes.

EC boss Charlotte Osei

The government of Ghana is expected to provide an extra Ghc400 million to the Electoral Commission to close a funding gap ahead of the November polls.

But parliament in December last year approved Ghc826.8 million for the Electoral Commission to conduct the 2016 presidential and parliamentary elections in November. This brings a financial deficitGhc400 million, which needs to be provided by government.

A Deputy Minister of Fianace Casel Ato Forson told the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament on Monday that government must resort to other means of raising the deficit in order to ensure a smooth election in November. “The Electoral Commission of Ghana saying that the electoral budget is going to cost ₵1.2 billion and…we have provision for ₵800 million [so] clearly we have to look for additional money.”

Mr. Forson indicated that government is considering raising the deficit from the savings of ministries, department and agencies in order to raise the extra GHC400 million. He also explained that they would have to generate more money if the elections goes into a run-off.

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