Accra, April 15, GNA-Japan on Thursday donated 3.5 million dollars from her Non-Project Grant Counterpart Fund to the Government for the December 2004 general elections.

A statement issued by the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning and signed by Miss Cecilia I. Akwetey, Head of Public Relations said this had made Japan the largest contributor among the development partners towards the elections.

It said Mr Koichi Mizushima, Charge d'Affair of the Japanese Embassy disclosed this at a meeting with officials of the Ministry in Accra.

Mr Mizushima expressed the hope that the funds would be used to procure equipment, build the capacity of staff of the Electoral Commission (EC) and educate the public to ensure peaceful, free and credible elections. Mr Yaw Osafo-Maafo, Minister of Finance and Economic Planning thanked the Japanese Government for the kind gesture and assured them of the Government's commitment to deepening democracy by playing her part towards the conduct of transparent elections.

The statement said other development partners, including the United Kingdom (UK), Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), the European Union (EU), Danish Development Agency (DANIDA), France, USA and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) had also made substantial contributions towards the elections.