The National Electoral Commission (NEC) has projected that the Government of Sierra Leone will have to provide 98 percent of the commission’s Fiscal Year 2021 Budget.
The Executive-Director of NEC William A. Davies made this disclosure during the ongoing budget process at the Ministry of Finance in Freetown.
He said only 2 percent of NEC’s budget will be coming from donor partner giving that 2021 is not an election year and will not attract donor funds.
The total FY 2021 Budget for NEC is Le 178 billion, with electoral costs of Le 141.9 billion, program and recurrent cost of Le 22.6 billion, and capital expenditure (construction) of Le 13.7 billion.
According to Mr. Davies, the Commission’s key deliverables for FY 2021 are achieving legal clarity in the conduct of elections by having a comprehensive legal framework, registered all eligible voters, and periodically updating the voter registration using biometric technology, improving the credibility of the electoral process by the timely and efficient conduct of all public elections, achieving administrative efficiency by having in place effective remittance, budgetary control, and reporting systems and referenda among other key deliverables.