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.
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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