Donor support compromises elections – EC Boss

The chairperson of Ghana’s Electoral Commission, Jean Mensa, has stated that allowing development partners to partly fund the country’s election is wrong.

According to her, the tendency of depending on donors to help fund the cost of elections in Ghana usually compromises the independence of the elections.

She also lamented the high cost of conducting elections in the country, saying: “Our elections are fast becoming very expensive ventures where we constantly rely on our development partners to partly fund our elections thereby compromising our independence.”

She advocated during her speech at the 17th International Electoral Affairs Symposium that measures be put in place to minimise the country’s dependence on development partners to fund its elections.

Moving forward, Ms Mensa said the electoral process is the cornerstone of any democracy thus it must be safeguarded.

She said, “Indeed, it is the midwife that births a democracy. It provides legitimacy to our leaders and democratic institutions and therefore needs not only to be maintained but more importantly to be fortified.”

She also called for the strengthening of electoral management bodies “to ensure that citizens respect the processes that elect their leaders as being free, credible and transparent.”

She assured that Ghana’s electoral commission is committed to holding free and fair elections in 2020 stating: “It’s essential that political parties freely participate in the electoral process and crucial that the right to citizens to express their preference is protected and guaranteed.”