Deputy General Secretary of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Obiri Boahen has welcomed the Electoral Commission (EC)’s decisi...
He argued that a party that cannot raise the said amount has no business participating in the upcoming polls.
“If you cannot raise ¢100,000 please get out. Those who can mobilise will pay,” he said on Joy FM‘s Top Story while expressing his view as a member of the party.
At its ‘Let The Citizen Know’ encounter on Monday, the Deputy Chairman of the EC indicated that the 100% upward adjustment from 2016’s GH¢50,000 fee was necessitated by the change in conditions.
“The nomination fees are adjusted every four years… Those of you who know the value of money know that in each particular year, it’s important that you look at the value of ¢50,000 in 2016 and compare to ¢50,000 in 2020. You’ll notice that the commission hasn’t increased it that much,” Dr Bossman Asare said.
Meanwhile, some parties are raising concerns over the lack of a consultative meeting with stakeholders such as political parties to arrive at the increment.
Political Parties including the Convention People’s Party (CPP) and the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) among others have already also communicated their dissatisfaction with the absence of their input to that effect.
But reacting to the development, Nana Obribi Boahen said such arguments are “immaterial.”
According to him, the EC as an autonomous body must be allowed to discharge its mandate of running a credible election for which reason it was set up.
“The EC may perhaps, out of courtesy consult the political parties but there is no law in this country which states that at all times the EC must consult all the political parties,” he told Evans Mensah.
This comes at a time when some Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) have raised concerns about the astronomical nature of election financing in the country.
Some of them are proposing a cap on political party spending in line with best practices.
Expressing what he says is his personal opinion, the governing NPP’s deputy chief scribe described such positions are inapplicable in Ghana’s context.
“How can we do that?” he quizzed adding that; “these are all ridiculous suggestions.
Meanwhile, the fees required to pick a form to become a parliamentary candidate remains ¢10,000, according to the EC.
Chairperson for the Commission, Jean Mensa also revealed that the forms can be accessed online.
In September 2016, the EC after an Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) meeting increased the presidential filing fees for the polls from ¢10,000 to ¢50,000 while that of the parliamentary was moved from ¢1,000 to ¢10,000.
Source:myjoyonline
