EC cries for funds

The Electoral Commission (EC) has made an urgent call to Parliament to compel the Ministry of Finance to release funds for the Limited Voters’ Registration Exercise scheduled for the last week of April.

The commission warned that if the release of funds delays further, it may have to reschedule the date for the exercise, which would in turn affect this year’s elections timetable.

Ghanaians are to go to the polls in November for presidential and parliamentary elections.

Sources close to the Special Budget Committee of Parliament said the EC made an emergency move to the House for the committee to intervene to ensure timely release of the funds in order not to put the electoral timetable into disarray.

The EC Chairperson, Mrs Charlotte Osei, according to the sources, led the delegation from the commission to the meeting.

The sources indicated that the meeting was inconclusive with a proposed meeting with officials from the Ministry of Finance.

Following the request for an overhaul of the voters’ register, the Justice V.C.R.A.C. Crabbe Committee recommended a limited voters’ registration, which the EC initially fixed for March, but had to be postponed due to the lack of legal backing documentation.

The exercise is to enable eligible voters who have since turned 18 years after the last general election in 2012 to have their names on the roll.

Parliament, last December, approved GH¢800 million for the entire elections, which the EC has said is inadequate for the conduct of the polls.