Election 2016: Gov’t cuts ¢400m from EC’s ¢1.2b budget

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Government has slashed the Electoral Commissions budget for the 2016 general elections by GH¢ 400 million from the original GH¢1.2 billion sought by the commission.

Government has however approved GH¢ 826.8 million for the commission to conduct the 2016 presidential and parliamentary elections.

This was revealed in parliament after the majority leader, Alban Bagbin asked parliament to approve the amount of GH¢ 826.8 million which leaves a funding gap of GH¢ 400 million.

It was also revealed the Finance Minister would be releasing the said amount to the Electoral Commission to aid in the execution of a successful election.

There was an earlier story by tv3network.com about the earlier amount presented to parliament which stood at GH¢ 900 million. This figure was disputed by the Chair of the electoral commission, madam Charlotte Osei in a response to Imani Ghana’s Franklin Cudjoe who sort a breakdown of the initial amount.

She however failed to state how much it would cost the EC to conduct the 2016 elections in her response to the Imani boss. In parliament on Monday Majority leader announced the figure of GH¢ 826.8 million, a reduction of GH¢400 million from the original amount requested by the commission.

It has also emerged that the EC may go back to government or parliament to seek an extra amount to help it organize a successful election.

By Martin Asiedu-Dartey|3news.com|Ghana
Twitter: @NewsyMartin

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