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2020 general elections to be solely funded by gov't- Info. Minister discloses

By Mutala Yakubu
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The Minister for Information Kojo Oppong Nkrumah has revealed that the Akufo-Addo government is putting things in place to enable the nation solely fund the 2020 general elections.

This was made known after a Cabinet meeting at Peduase in the Eastern Region on Sunday, November 4, 2019.

Kojo Oppong Nkrumah said the improvement in domestic revenue mobilization is critical to ensure the government is able to carry out its statutory obligations.

READ ALSO: Info. Minister says Akufo-Addo has held more cabinet meetings than Mahama

He also said this is in line with the government’s “Ghana Beyond Aid agenda” and will mean that the government will not be looking for support from donor partners to carry out its statutory obligations like the running of elections.

“In other statutory obligation for the year, particularly on elections, it will be carried out within the national resource envelope. This is a critical feature of the Ghana Beyond Aid agenda. What all of this means is that we ourselves have to look at all these obligations and fund them. The days that we have to be relying on donor partners to execute some of these critical national obligations are over. It falls squarely within our ambits and what that means is that the generation of our internal resources to meet those obligations is key.”

Ghana's elections are mostly part-funded by donor partners. The EC in their recent meet the press section were asked if they are considering introducing election tax but that was quickly quashed by EC Chair Jean Mensa.

READ ALSO: I don't think Ghanaians will accept ‘election tax’ now - EC boss

‘In Ghana, it is the government of Ghana that funds our election in its totality. So I do not think that the imposition of election tax will be something that the people of Ghana will take lightly because we are already over-taxed. And you know that we do have a lot of resources and with efficient management, we should be able to fund our elections”, she said recently.

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