The Chairperson of the Electoral Commission, Jean Mensa, has said Ghana should be able to carry out critical election-related activities without donor support.
She believes the state should find innovative ways to support election-related activities.
[contextly_sidebar id=”wZeCLrnxPcHVMVLyMRrRYrg4IX3k7lBB”]”I think that our governments should be able to support our elections. I think that having donors withdraw because Ghana is now middle income shouldn’t be a problem. We should find innovative ways to educate people,” Jean Mensa said during a visit to Citi TV/Citi FM.
Her remarks come as the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) revealed that many election-related activities may be suspended in the run-up to the 2020 elections due to lack of funds after it runs of European Union support.
The EU provided significant support to Ghana ahead of the 2016 elections.
The union released € 4.82 million grant to support the operations of the NCCE, the EC and the National Media Commission ahead of the 2016 general election.
€ 2.9 million went to the EC, the NCCE received € 1.77 million and the National Media Commission received € 150,000.
Without such support, Mrs. Mensa said the state needed to be more innovative and precise in its operations with respect to education.
“You can also use technology to reach as many people as possible. You can engage people through videos in local dialects and so on.”
She also said the lack of donor support could be in the interest of improved national sovereignty.
“I think it is not a good feeling to have it said that donors are funding our elections. It has implications for our country. Because if you put in more money you can put in demands. We should be innovative and have ways of innovating,” she added.