Chairperson of the Electoral Commission (EC) Jean Mensa is scheduled to appear before the Special Budget Committee of Parliament later today, Tuesday, June 16, 2020.
The meeting follows an invitation by the Special Budget Committee of the House last week.
Speaking to Citi News, Majority Leader and Member of Parliament for the Suame constituency, Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu said the Committee will take a progress report from the Electoral Commission on the implementation of the EC’s work programme ahead of the 2020 election.
“The Special Budget Committee which has direct oversight over the Electoral Commission has extended an invitation to them for them to appear before the Committee. That is slated for Tuesday so we will invite them for Tuesday to brainstorm on their programme for the year. The Commission came for a budget which was approved by the Committee for which report was submitted to plenary and was also adopted and approved the budget for the EC. That budget is supported by the work programme for the year so we want to be briefed as to the progress of work that they are conducting.”
Parliament in December 2019 approved a budget of over GHS390 million for the Electoral Commission to conduct the voter registration exercise ahead of the 2020 national elections.
Documents sighted by Citi News show the amount will be expended on procurement, recruitment, training, data processing, publicity and allowances.
Over GHS161 million is expected to be spent on allowances of registration officials while the procurement of materials is expected to cost over GHS 156 million.
The overall budget approved for the Commission’s activities this year stands at GHS1.3 billion, down from GHS 1.8 billion approved in 2016.
The process has been hit with by many challenges including the outbreak of COVID-19 which requires the EC to put in place further health and safety measures.
