Executive Director of the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), Jean Mensah, has asked the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), to focus on voter education which falls within its mandate ahead of the November polls, instead of organizing presidential or parliamentary debates.
The NCCE has indicated it will organize debates for parliamentary candidates in all 275 constituencies of the country ahead of the polls, as well as a presidential dialogue for aspirants in this year’s presidential elections.
[contextly_sidebar id=”uucDTICn5rN1yF7koivbeyqh58suQW6V”]The NCCE’s intentions come at a time when the IEA has come under fire from political parties over some new modalities it announced for this year’s debate which they consider undemocratic.
The NCCE now says it is now preparing the ground and seeking to raise funds for a similar debate.
But according to the IEA’s Executive Director, if the NCCE truly had the interest of the country at heart, they would be focusing on public education from now till the polls, instead of attempting to organize nationwide parliamentary debates.
Speaking on Eyewitness News, Mrs. Mensah said, “The NCCE should be educating voters on how to vote and reduce the number of rejected ballots… My greatest concern will be to ask them to educate voters on how to vote, to ensure that they are not disenfranchised.”
She argued that the NCCE has not the built the capacity to organize debates of that nature.
“They haven’t built the expertise, they haven’t tried this before. Why enter into areas you haven’t tried when the IEA has been tried and tested.”
Focus on your mandate
Mrs. Mensah further suggested that the NCCE was not even executing its mandate well enough for it to be considering other responsibilities.
“I think that they owe the duty to us as a nation to perform their mandate which is expected of them. I think that in that respect, they haven’t done their work because when you engage them, they say they don’t have the resources and yet it is surprising that they have the resources for a debate.”
Focus on reducing rejected ballots
She thus urged them to focus on the much needed voter education geared towards reducing the incidence of spoiled ballots.
“They will be of great service if they educate the citizens on how to vote to ensure that we not going to end up with three percent rejected ballots that will send us into a second round and cost us money, undermine our security and stability and so on.”
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By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana