The National Commission for Civic Education(NCCE) has rubbished comments made by the Institute of Economic Affairs(IEA) advising it (NCCE) to stay focus on its mandate.
The NCCE said it is not part of its core duties to teach electorates how to vote, claiming it is rather the work of the Electoral Commission to do so.
The NCCE says it has a plan for “presidential dialogue” as part of its election activities for the 2016 elections, but the IEA has asked the National Commission for Civic Education to focus on its core mandate as a state institution rather than venturing into areas which does not fall within its remit..
This follows the barrage of attacks brought against the IEA after it said it was considering a separate debate for the presidential candidates of the two biggest political parties.
The Deputy Commissioner of the NCCE, Samuel Akuamoah in a response to the fallout of the development said he’s surprised the IEA is attacking the NCCE, blaming it of being caught up with issues that do not fall within its remit.
Mr. Akuamoah said it is until when there is a collaboration between the Electoral Commission and his outfit that the NCCE gets involved in the public campaign on ‘how to vote’.
“We avail our services to the EC and other institutions to give us training or some capacity to complement their efforts, but it does not put the technical issues in EC’s work in our core mandate; that is a wrong perception, Mr. Akuamoah told Accra-based Citi FM.
“In any case IEA is our partner” he noted, adding that they have collaborated with the think-tank in many respects, and hence suggested that the outburst of the IEA may be one of a friendly fire.
