National Democratic Congress (NDC) National Chairman Johnson Asiedu Nketia has called on the government to finance political parties’ internal elections, arguing that the high cost of conducting one-member-one-vote primaries places a significant financial burden on parties.
Speaking on PM Express on JoyNews, Mr Asiedu Nketia revealed that the NDC spent nearly GH¢14 million to organise its one-member-one-vote primaries in 2014, describing the exercise as both successful and expensive.
He explained that the party established more than 8,000 polling stations nationwide, printed election materials, and paid allowances for Electoral Commission (EC) officials who supervised the process.
“The Electoral Commission didn’t contribute one cedi,” he said.
His comments come after the Supreme Court directed political parties to adopt a more inclusive system for selecting parliamentary and presidential candidates, giving them one year to comply.
Mr Asiedu Nketia said since the new system expands participation and strengthens democratic rights, the state should bear part of the cost by allowing the Electoral Commission to conduct the elections at no cost to political parties.
“I expect that even though the system is good, since we are being compelled to help citizens exercise their civic and democratic rights, it will serve very well if you ask the state to budget for this exercise so the Electoral Commission can conduct it free of charge,” he stated.
He argued that the EC’s involvement would eliminate the largest expense associated with organising nationwide internal elections.
“Because that will be your biggest cost line. The EC. If they can conduct it free of charge, then it will help every political party,” he added.
Addressing concerns that state funding could lead to the formation of numerous political parties seeking public resources, Mr Asiedu Nketia supported the creation of an independent body to regulate political parties and determine which ones qualify for state assistance.
According to him, only parties that satisfy constitutional requirements, including maintaining functional structures in at least two-thirds of Ghana’s districts, should be eligible for public funding.
He noted that such a proposal already forms part of the government’s constitutional reform position paper.
Mr Asiedu Nketia further explained that one-member-one-vote elections are considerably more expensive than delegate-based elections because they involve a much larger voter base.
While delegate elections require fewer than 400,000 ballot papers, he said a nationwide one-member-one-vote exercise could require between one million and two million ballot papers.
Despite the financial demands, he expressed confidence that the NDC would be able to meet the Supreme Court’s one-year deadline, citing the party’s previous experience with the one-member-one-vote system.
