The Electoral Commission (EC) has announced a significant milestone in its procurement process, resulting in substantial cost savings for election operations.
According to the commission, it has reduced the cost per head in the election from $13 in 2016 to $7 in 2020, thereby saving the country a substantial amount of $19 million.
At a press conference on May 6, the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission, Mrs Mensa, stressed the commission’s efforts in enhancing efficiency and transparency over the past few years.
Since 2020, the EC has adopted an open competitive bidding process for procurements, with approximately 95% of acquisitions advertised in local newspapers.
According to the EC chair, this approach has not only ensured value for money in services and materials but also introduced significant competition, resulting in a notable reduction in procurement expenses.
“… As such, with approximately 95% of our procurement advertised in the local newspapers, we can obtain value for money for our services and materials. It has equally ejected competition to our procurement, drastically reducing the prices at which we procure our material.
“It is not a wonder that we managed to lower the cost of our election from $13 per head in 2016 to $7.7 per head in 2020 and saved our nation a substantial amount of $19 million,” she stated.
Meanwhile, the EC has secured generators at all district capitals to curtail power outages, popularly known as ‘dumsor’, to ensure a smooth limited voter registration exercise, which begins today, Tuesday, May 7, 2024.
This forms part of preparations towards the December general elections.
The registration will take place in all 258 district offices of the commission and an additional 785 centres to accommodate those who may find it difficult to access the district offices.
A total of 3,277 personnel have been engaged for the 21-day exercise, which will end on May 27, 2024.
The EC intends to submit the provisional voter register to the political parties between July 9 and 18, 2024, and mount an exhibition of the voter register between July 15 and 24, 2024.
The final voter register is expected to be submitted to the political parties between August 30 and September 5, 2024.