EC Budget Slashed

For instance, whereas the EC had requested for GH�67,000,000 to conduct the district level elections in 2010, only GH�10,000,000 has been given as part of the Commission�s budget by the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning (MOFEP), with the explanation that donor support would make up for the difference. A total amount of GH�21,633,009 has been allocated to the Commission to undertake its activities next year. The activities include the District Assembly and Unit Committee elections; and all by-elections that may come up in the course of the year, pilot biometric registration of voters, update of the voters register and an exhibition of the register. The rest includes the completion of the construction of the Greater Accra regional offices and national stores complex and four district offices, the construction of one incinerator in each region for the burning of used and unused ballot papers. Although the GH�21,633,009 represents an increase of about 20.5 per cent above what was allocated to the Commission in 2009, the Chairman of the Special Budgets Committee of Parliament, Alban S. K. Bagbin, noted that the amount is still inadequate considering the fact that the huge variation results from the allocation of GH�10,000,000 for the district level elections. The Committee observed that whereas an amount of GH�55,833,546 was released for the 2008 presidential and parliamentary elections, the budget for the district level elections is estimated at GH�67,000,000, a difference of about GH�11,000,000. The Committee was informed that the conduct of the district level elections is more expensive than that of the presidential and parliamentary elections. This, the Electoral Commission noted, results from the high number of candidates involved in the district level elections. The number of vacancies for the Unit Committees is 160,000 and that for the District Assemblies is 5,000. The Electoral Commission therefore requires 16,000 different slates for the Unit Committees elections and 5,000 different slates for the District Assemblies elections compared with 230 slates for Parliamentary elections, hence the extra expense. The Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning was however asked to make an undertaking to meet the request of the Electoral Commission to make funds available in a timely manner for the effective and efficient conduct of the elections. The Public Services Commission on the other hand has been allocated GH�1,495,167 for its activities in 2010, a decrease of GH�400,560 or 21 per cent when compared to the 2009 figure of GH�1,895,727. The apparent reduction has been a worry to the Commission, compelling it to complain to the Special Budget Committee that it had experienced a persistent downward trend in its allocation for service. It was disclosed that the Commission was allocated GH�37,596 in 2008; GH�19,965 in 2009; and GH�15,600 for 2010. Persistent decreases in the service allocation, according to the Special Budget Committee, implies that the Commission is unlikely to effectively execute its mandate as the amount provided is far below what is required. The Committee was informed by the Commission that its existing fleet of vehicles is over 17 years old and as a result they commit a lot of resources to fueling and maintaining them, further causing a drain on the its resources. Consequently, the Committee has urged the Commission to, as a matter of urgency, release funds to purchase at least two brand new vehicles to enable the latter perform its constitutional mandate of managing the human resource of Ghana�s Public Service effectively and efficiently.