The Electoral Commission (EC) says the adoption of best procurement practices and diligence led to a huge reduction of cost in the conduct of the 2020 general election.
According to the EC’s Director of Training, in spite of the covid-19 pandemic in the country, the cost per voter in the 2020 elections was reduced by half as compared to the expenditure for 2016 elections.
“As a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, most of our offshore items which had to be transported by air had a further hike in prices from what was paid in 2012, 2016.
“In 2020, the Commission paid full tax on all its offshore items. This notwithstanding, we managed to reduce the cost of the election by almost half the 2016 amount,” he said.
He also revealed that: “For the first time, the ballot papers, BVDs, and the voter registers were sent to the districts two weeks before the election day, as against the past where they get to their destinations a day to the election.”
He was speaking at a post-election forum organised by the Coalition of Domestic Election Observers.
Mr Boadi was confident 2020 parliamentary and presidential elections were the “most successful, well-coordinated, efficient, and the most peaceful election organised in the Fourth Republic of Ghana.
He also observed that the procurement processes for the conduct of the elections were openly done through the newspapers with the exception of printing of ballot papers which was done through TV and Radio adverts due to its security implications.
He also added that the Commission procured 240,000 face masks and other PPE’s for it’s staff as part of efforts to ensure the adherence of the safety protocols.