<<Print>>

Notwithstanding the numerous challenges associated with the 2012 polls which culminated in the seminal presidential election at Ghana�s Supreme Court, the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) appears to be leading the nation to yet another difficult and tumultuous general election in 2016 by deliberately starving the Electoral Commission (EC) of funds. The National Forum has gathered that the EC, which is constitutionally mandated to conduct public elections in Ghana, has had to postpone its scheduled activities in the run up to the referendum on the 1992 constitution, District Assembly Elections and the preparation of a new voters� register because the Mahama-led NDC administration has failed to release funds to the commission. According to EC�s programme, a limited voter registration exercise will commence on July 25, 2014. However, barely two weeks to the exercise, nothing is happening as there is no information or publicity regarding the registration and training of staff for the exercise. This may lead to the registration being done haphazardly, impacting negatively on the quality of the voters� register for free and fair elections in the country. Fears are being expressed that if the trend of late release of funds continues, the 2016 elections could be in danger, a worrying phenomenon that could plunge the nation into chaos. The EC had to conduct the 2010 District Assembly and Unit Committee Elections in bits or what was referred to as �tot by tot� with numerous difficulties across the country because government failed to release money on time. EC�s budget Out of budgetary requirement of GH�327,179,894 submitted by the EC for 2014, only GH�141,082,137 had been allocated to the commission for the implementation of its programmes. The balance of GH�186,097,575 required to conduct and supervise the District level elections and the expected on the 1992 constitution has not been allocated. When the Special Budget Committee of Parliament raised concerns about the short fall, requesting the minister for finance to find the additional amount of GH�186,097,575 expeditiously to enable the EC conduct the impending elections without hitches. The committee was worried that any delays may affect the programme outline of the Commission. Even though the ministry of finance gave assurance that the amount would be taken from the General Government Service Vote, our information is that the full amount has not yet been released. It would be recalled that poor conduct of the 2010 District Assembly elections culminated in the setting up of a parliamentary inquiry committee, which investigated the difficulties of the Electoral Commission in conducting the elections. The committee identified late release of funds as a major cause of the difficulties that confronted the polls. Investigations conducted by The National Forum have revealed that the EC has not been provided with the needed operational funds to even fuel its assigned vehicles, giving disturbing signals that the commission may not be well prepared to conduct credible elections in 2016. Afari-Djan Summoned EC�s Chairman Dr. Kwadwo Afari-Djan was recently summoned before Parliament to explain why his outfit had not been able to carry out its scheduled activities. The National Forum had learnt that even though Dr. Afari-Djan admitted the commission was facing some challenges; he fell short of acknowledging that they had been cash-strapped because government had failed to release funds to the commission. Fears Expressed Political watchers feared the country could be thrown into complete turmoil if the Mahama administration failed to adequately resource the Electoral Commission to conduct free and fair election in 2016. The 2012 general election, which could have been the most credible poll in the history of the fourth republic, was riddled with widespread malpractices and constitutional violations partly because appropriate remuneration was not given to qualified personnel to handle the polls. Evidence available shows that personnel were poorly trained to man the biometric machines which were introduced to ensure the principle of one man, one vote in the last election. This was attributed to late release of funding from government. �As if the Supreme Court presidential election petition hearing has not thought us any lessons, we are having a situation where the EC is again being starved of the cash needed to function efficiently,� a political watcher told The National Forum. The paper has gathered from some highly placed sources within the Electoral Commission that some senior members were getting worried about another embarrassment after the next elections, following the nearly ruined credibility of the commission during the hearing of the election petition. Worries of EC staff The National Forum has been told that a petition has been signed by some senior staff at the EC, threatening to boycott any activity that may be brought too close to elections. According to some opposition party representatives who spoke to the paper, the deliberate refusal to release resources to the EC was part of a grand ploy by Government to weaken the structures and preparation by the commission to conduct credible elections in the country. This will also give room for agents of government to employ various machinations to rig the polls. This, according to a party representative, could be a recipe for chaos in Ghana. �Nobody will allow any manipulation or misrepresentation of the wishes and aspiration of the Ghanaian people as we experienced in the 2012 elections. We won�t sit down for that to happen again,� he warned. All these are happening at the back of the NDC embarking on a biometric registration exercise nationwide with the speculation that the governing party was using some of the kits used by the Electoral Commission in the 2012 registration process. �How they got them, no one knows. But we are aware of the complaints of missing biometric machines from the pool that the EC used. Again, why the EC has chosen not to make the necessary complaint to the Police for a search and possible retrieval, we cannot fathom,� the party representative wondered. Release of statutory funds EC�s financial predicament adds up to the tall list of public institutions that are not receiving their statutory funds because of the country�s failing economy under the leadership of President John Dramani Mahama. Statutory payments to the District Assemblies Common Fund (DACF), Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETfund), National Health Insurance Levy (NHIL) are all in huge arrears, virtually grounding the operations of most state institutions to a halt.