Guinea-Bissau needs US$3.5 million to make the June elections possible

Guinea-Bissau needs US$3.5 million to make the legislative elections of June 4 possible and is waiting for the international community to mobilize this amount, sources linked to the electoral process told Lusa.

Sources in the Guinean government admitted to Lusa the existence of “this deficit” but recalled “the country’s effort” that allowed supporting, so far, 70% of all estimated funding for the elections.

On Monday, the government, represented by Deputy Prime Minister Soares Sambu, the National Elections Commission (CNE), and international partners discussed, in a steering committee of the electoral process, the issue of the budget deficit and asked them to contact the international community to mobilize and make available the US$3.5 million.

Sources from the electoral process indicated to Lusa that the UNDP alerted to the difficulty in mobilizing that amount “in a short period” but promised to contact Guinea-Bissau’s international partners to find a mechanism that may make the elections viable.

The same sources told Lusa that one of the mechanisms under analysis asked Portugal to provide US$3.5 million as part of the €5 million Lisbon announced as budgetary support to Guinea-Bissau in the next three years.

A source from the international community admitted to Lusa that the Guinean government has no objection to this mechanism as long as Portugal approves it.

As soon as the partners disburse the promised support for the Guinean legislative elections, UNDP would replace the US$3.5 million advanced by Portugal, explained the same source.

The UNDP argument is that “technically it is impossible” to mobilize the US$3.5 million considering the date of the elections, June 4, and the previous acts that must be funded.

A source from the Guinean government noted that the electoral schedule “is not yet in question”, stressing that the Technical Office delivered the electoral registers today for support to the Electoral Process (GTAPE) to the National Electoral Commission (CNE) and that Portugal will “soon” send some materials for polling day.

As usual in democratic elections in Guinea-Bissau, Portugal will provide ballot papers, indelible ink bottles, and summary forms, among other materials.

The same source said that, on the other hand, the UNDP has already ordered the ballot boxes and voting booths in Denmark and that those materials should arrive in Bissau “soon”.

The UNDP and the Government of Guinea-Bissau signed in March the Electoral Cycle Support Project between 2023 and 2025, worth €5.3 million.

Guinea-Bissau’s legislative elections are budgeted at about €12 million, according to Guinean Finance Minister Ilídio Té.

According to the minister, the Guinean state had already provided about €8.6 million by early February.

At the beginning of January, the Minister of Territorial Administration, Fernando Gomes, had stated that the Guinean Government had already financed 70% of the budget for the legislative elections, expecting that international partners would support the remaining 30%.

With information from Lusa