2020 Elections: Filing Fee for Presidential Candidates outrageous – CDD

Senior Programs Officer for the Center for Democratic Development Ghana (CDD-Ghana), Nana Kwabena Aborampah Mensah has raised concerns about the fee set by the Electoral Commission (EC) for the filing of nominations for December’s presidential elections.

Mr Mensah said the fees demanded from aspirants are the outrageous.

The EC, on Monday, September 14, 2020, opened nominations for the 2020 presidential and parliamentary elections.

The nominations are to be filed from Monday, October 5, 2020, to Friday, October 9, 2020, with GHS100, 000 set as the filing fee for presidential candidates, and GHS10, 000 for parliamentary candidates

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Mr. Mensah, in an interview on Citi FM’s Eyewitness News, said the EC is putting unnecessary pressure on aspirants.

“Come to think of it, every activity in the electoral process had been budgeted for, so why the need to put pressure on the aspirants? We are causing further strain on the public purse because the country already  allocates huge sums of money for the conduct of elections, then there is the issue of parties and people winning elections and having to recoup the monies they invested.”

Mr. Mensah attributed corruption in the nation to the expenses aspirants incur in their quest to win elections.

“We got alarmed after research into the cost of politics in Ghana. We found out that parliamentary candidates that seek political power spend about USD 85,000 on just the contest. That excludes the filing fee, campaigning, and other expenses. This is really outrageous and should be looked at. This has implications for governance. Talk of corruption, mismanagement and what have you, because the people need to recoup the monies they invest.”

Mr. Mensah further suggested that the EC be made to render annual accounts of its expenses so as to ensure transparency in the Commission’s expenditure.