National Chairman of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Johnson Asiedu Nketiah, has raised concerns about the financial implications of abolishin
National Chairman of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Johnson Asiedu Nketiah, has raised concerns about the financial implications of abolishing the delegates system for the selection of presidential and parliamentary candidates.
Speaking in an interview with JoyNews on Tuesday, August 4, Asiedu Nketiah recalled the NDC’s experience during its 2014 internal elections, when the party expanded its electoral process to allow all members to participate.
According to him, while the inclusive voting system promoted internal democracy, it also came with enormous financial costs that placed a significant burden on the party.
He explained that the expanded voting exercise required the establishment of thousands of polling stations across the country to ensure members, particularly those in remote communities, could vote without travelling long distances.
“There are certain electoral areas that are made up of clusters of villages, and in that case you will have more polling stations in the villages so that you don’t ask people to travel, and so we ended up opening more than 8,000 polling stations and the Electoral Commission took the view that this was a private election whose costs must be borne exclusively by the party.
“The Electoral Commission recruited about four polling officials for each polling station and we had to pay them and pay all the costs of the materials. The Electoral Commission didn’t contribute a pesewa, and so in the end, in those days, we spent close to GH¢14 million in 2014.
“So my expectation is that even though the system is good, since we are being compelled to help citizens exercise their civic and democratic rights, it sits very well if you ask the state to budget for this exercise so that the Electoral Commission can conduct it free of charge.”
His comments come following the Supreme Court’s landmark ruling declaring the delegates system used by political parties to elect their presidential and parliamentary candidates unconstitutional.
In a 5–2 majority decision on July 29, the apex court ruled that the delegates system employed by political parties to elect presidential and parliamentary candidates is unconstitutional.
The Court consequently directed all political parties to introduce arrangements that allow every member in good standing to vote directly in the selection of their presidential and parliamentary candidates.
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