IEA hosts first evening presidential meeting on 18 September | Politics

The Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) announces that its first 2024 Presidential Evening Encounter for candidates will be held on Wednesday, 18 September 2024.

This evening, Nana Kwame Bediako of the New Force movement will be the first candidate to present his visions and plans to the public.

The Most Reverend Dr. Paul Kwabena Boafo, Chair of the IEA Presidential Debates Committee, made the announcement at a press conference in Accra.

In total, five candidates, including the first, would take turns attending the Presidential Evening Encounters hosted by the IEA on the scheduled dates.

He said the second candidate will have his encounter on Tuesday, September 24, followed by the third on Tuesday, October 1, the fourth on Tuesday, October 8 and the fifth on Tuesday, October 15, all scheduled at 5.30pm.

He said that the moderator would give the candidate 30 minutes to present, followed by a question and answer session in an hour and a half.

“Personal attendance is by invitation. Invitees come from civil society organisations, associations, private and public sector institutions, political parties, diplomatic communities, religious organisations and trade unions, among others,” he said.

Reverend Boafo also announced the dates for the presidential and vice presidential debates: Tuesday, October 22, for the first presidential debate, followed by the vice presidential debate on Tuesday, November 5, and the second presidential debate on Tuesday, November 19.

He said they expected the meetings and debates to promote constructive political discourse focusing on issues and strategies to deepen multi-party democracy and good governance in the country.

He said that the criterion for selecting candidates for the evening meetings and presidential debates is that the candidate must submit official documents to the electoral commission to participate in the election.

“In addition, the candidate must have published his election manifesto, received media recognition from reputable media outlets and his performance in selected opinion polls must have been adequately assessed.”