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EC Boss, Mrs. Jean Mensa.
Presidential candidates who wish to participate in the 2020 general elections will have to pay a filing fee of ¢ 100,000, while parliamentary candidates will pay ¢ 10,000, said the president of the Electoral Commission (EC), Jean Mensa.
The latest increase was announced during the Let The Citizen Know Meeting that took place on Monday, September 14.
In announcing the opening of the nomination for the presidential and parliamentary hopefuls, Ms. Mensa said that the forms can be accessed online.
“Each political party would be given a unique password and the password would be given to the general secretaries so that they can access the online forms.
“Additionally, Independent Candidates will receive passwords so they can access the website and complete the form between October 5 and 9.”
The decision to increase the amount follows a similar one made by the EC in 2016 before the general elections.
Unlike the 2012 elections in which presidential candidates were forced to pay ¢ 10,000 as a filing fee, the EC increased the amount to ¢ 50,000.
Once again, the nomination fees for parliamentary candidates were set at ¢ 10,000 compared to the ¢ 1,000 paid in the last elections.
The new amount was greeted with outrage by the then opposition New Patriotic Party (PNP) and other smaller political parties in the country.
The Democratic National Congress (NDC) argued that the PNP had no place to complain about the fee as the party took even more than that for its primaries.
However, Monday’s disclosure raised concerns about whether the parties involved will dispute the latest amount.
But defending the amount to be collected by the Commission, EC Vice President in charge of Corporate Services, Dr. Bossman Eric Asare said the amount was generous in reconsidering recent events.
“We don’t increase because we can, but frankly, every four years we adjust prices when it comes to nomination fees.
“So in 2012 presidential it was almost ¢ 10,000, in 2016 it reached ¢ 50,000 and in 2020 it is now ¢ 100,000. And those of you who know the value of money in each particular year, it is important that you look at the value of ¢ 50,000 in 2016 and compare it with the same amount so far and you will know that the Commission has not increased it that much. ” he said.
