A Wasteful Enterprise

On Friday, the 7th of August, the Electoral Commission of Ghana called a press conference to pat itself on the back for completing the latest in the long line of registration exercises conducted in this country.

As if mesmerised by its own achievement, the EC lunged into a series of misguided statistical commentary about the numbers it recorded, in obvious response to critics who argue that the millions of dollars spent on this needless mass registration exercise have mostly been effectively wasted.

Yet, evidence that the EC has wasted more than $185 million of the country’s money (over $70 million for new hardware, software and datacentres to Thales and others; over $60 million of near- brand new equipment discarded; and at least $65 million for goods and services) for no clear gain whatsoever is firm and solid.

As we have persistently argued, at most $35 million would have been required had the EC listened to sound counsel and used the existing infrastructure. The implied loss to the state of persisting in its course thus amounts to over $150 million.