The IEC said
holding the
presidential, legislative and local government elections at the same time will be more
cost-effective.
On
Wednesday, IEC
Chairperson Alhaji Mustapha L. Carayol, told State TV, GRTS, it will be very cost effective if
the three elections are synchronize - held at the same time -instead of organizing three
different elections at
intervals.
He said the
current mode of conducting elections in the tine West African country is
very cost intensive.
Mr Carayol’s
call
came at a time when international
donor agencies
are apparently becoming
reluctant to help finance The Gambia’s national elections.
In The Gambia, presidential and national assembly elections are held every five years and local government elections every four years.
The cost of voter registration
exercise for these three set of elections is
D65, 297,506 (over US$1,978,712), Mr Carayol said. The 2011-2013 elections cycle was entirely financed by the Government of The Gambia.
Bracing for upcoming election
The IEC chairperson said the
commission is bracing itself for the forthcoming March 14-16, 2013 nomination for the local government elections which
is slated for April 4.
The campaign period
for the election meant to choose Mayors and
Ward Councilors is scheduled to take off from March 20-April 2, 2013.
Local government election in The
Gambia is done to elect mayors for the Banjul City Council, and
Kanifing Municipal Council and Councilors for the 114 Wards in the eight Local
Government Councils of the country.
The
commission is set, 100 percent ready to conduct the election. All our materials
are intact, Mr Carayol.
A countrywide voter education which started on January 7, 2013 is ending on April 3, 2013. The IEC said the campaign is meant to expedite the process leading to a successful local government election, and encourage high level participation of all
major stakeholders in the electoral process.
“This is to ensure that the electorates abundantly understand
the purpose for Local Government Elections in The Gambia and the functions of
such officials that may be voted into the offices of the Local Authorities,” the IEC
said.
Written by Modou S. Joof
Follow on Facebook: The-North-Bank-Evening-Standard
No comments:
Post a Comment
The views expressed in this section are the authors' own. It does not represent The North Bank Evening Standard (TNBES)'s editorial policy. Also, TNBES is not responsible for content on external links.