Managing Editor of the Insight newspaper, Kwesi Pratt Jnr has expressed worry at the level of authority the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) confers on itself during election years.

The Executive Director of the IEA, Jean Mensah during the week stated that Ghana is not ready for the elections but the Electoral Commission (EC) in a rebuttal said, contrary to the Institute’s claims, the Commission is strictly following its timetable to ensure smooth and fair elections come November 7.

Speaking on Radio Gold on Saturday, Mr. Pratt criticized the IEA saying, “the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) – all that they have been doing for some time is posturing as the alpha and omega of elections in Ghana and it should not be allowed to do that.”

According to him, Ghana has the Inter Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) “where all the political parties and the Electoral Commission meet constantly to review things.”

“That should become the forum for consensus building with regards to elections and so on and not the IEA.”

“Does the IEA have a bigger capacity done the IPAC or the EC?” he asked, adding that “on what basis does the IEA come to tell us that the Electoral Commission is not ready for the elections?”

“The other groups; CODEO and others have challenged them and said what the IEA is saying simply doesn’t make sense and the Electoral Commission itself has come to say they are ready and they know what they are doing.”

Mr. Pratt advised that organizations like the IEA “whose funding is dependent on the extent to which they are able to please the European Union and other such organizations should be a little more respectful of Ghana and its people. I am getting deeply worried about that.”