The financial cost incurred by persons who run for public office in the country is imposing some challenges on the country’s electoral processes, Coalition of Domestic Election Observers (CODEO) has said.
The Coalition believes the development has the propensity to affect the outcome of elections negatively.
This conclusion was in a communiqué from a high-level post-election stakeholders review workshop on Ghana’s 2020 Presidential and General elections held at Ada in the Greater Accra Region last month.
The eight-page document released on May 9 enumerated several recommendations which the Coalition believes will help improve subsequent elections if adequately addressed.
Key among them was the need to reduce the cost of elections and regulating campaign financing in Ghana.
According to CODEO, “it is believed that a presidential election can cost as much as $100m while that of MPs is around ¢3-4 million”
On the back of this, the discussants agreed that; “the EC, political parties and other stakeholders must work together to address the increasing cost of contesting to be elected as an MP or President.”
While describing the move as unsustainable, CODEO’s press release noted that the situation is likely to “protect and promote illicit activities.”
The three-day event saw participants, including leaders and representatives from key election-related institutions such as the Electoral Commission of Ghana (EC), the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), the National Peace Council (NPC) and the National Media Commission (NMC).
The Ghana Police Service, the Judiciary, some political parties – i.e. the National Democratic Congress (NDC), the New Patriotic Party (NPP), the Convention People’s Party (CPP), and the Peoples’ National Convention (PNC)), representatives from the media, Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) and academia were also present.
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Source: Joy online
