RELATED: NCCE planning to organise Presidential, Parliamentary debates

Since 2000, the Institute of Economic Affairs, (IEA) has organised the Presidential Debate prior to Ghana’s general elections.

However, the IEA has recently come under criticism after it announced that it intended organising a separate debate for the presidential candidates of the two biggest political parties.

Some political parties including the NDC and the PNC have accused the IEA of failing to consult them before announcing plans for their presidential debate.

The NCCE has subsequently revealed plans of organising a "presidential dialogue" for aspirants as part of its activities for this year's election.

But, theExecutive Director of the IEA Mrs. Jean Mensa has told Accra-based Joy FM that the NCCE is a government agency which is yet to be "tried and tested" in the area of organising debates.

"I don’t believe the NCCE has the capacity and experience to engage in presidential debate. The NCCE’s focus is to educate citizens on their civic responsibilities and duties and I think is a big challenge and mandate before them, particularly this election year.

"If you do a little bit of background check and look at the US debates it is the presidential debate committee which is an independent body and nothing stops an independent body from organising debates", she said.

"The NCCE is an agency of government. It is not an independent body and the IEA has worked on debates since 2000. We have built our credibility and have our independent and objective platforms. I don’t believe anybody can question that and we try over the years to improve on what we do," Jean Mensa added.