You do not qualify to be president if you cannot mobilize only GH ¢ 100k

General news for Thursday, September 17, 2020

Source: My GH news

2020-09-17

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The Director of Electoral Services of the Electoral Commission (EC), Dr. Serebour Quaicoe, has hit presidential candidates hard who complain about the high cost of filing fees and claim that those people do not qualify to be presidents of the country if they do not they can mobilize such an amount despite the commission’s earlier statement that the GHC100,000 charges were the result of Cedi’s depreciation

“If you run for the highest position in the country, you must be a good organizer and a good mobilizer. So if you can mobilize people to vote for you to become president, then they should be able to mobilize to get the money. ” Dr. Serebour Quaicoe told Hello FM in Kumasi in an interview monitored by MyNewsGh.com.

The Election Commission in a press conference the previous Monday declared that presidential candidates for this year’s elections must pay ¢ 100,000 GH as presentation rights so that they can qualify to participate in the elections. Parliamentary candidates must also pay GH ¢ 10,000, which did not register any increase.

Right after the announcement, some political parties, including the NDC, said that the increase was too high, comparing it to the sale of the country’s democracy.

Mr. Hassan Ayariga, leader of the All People’s Congress (APC) has also said that the EC’s action shows that it has turned the country’s democracy into a business, while describing the commission as a “weak” institution.

The CPP has also made similar statements asking the commission to lower the fee.

Defending the amount charged by the commission, EC Vice President Dr. Bossman Eric Asare said the amount was generous considering recent events.

However, speaking to Hello FM, Mr. Serebour Quacoe insisted that, anyone who thinks they cannot win the election or cannot get 25% of the total votes cast does not qualify to be there because the constitution provides for the Presentation fee will be returned to candidates after they have obtained at least 25%.

“What the constitution says is that after you’ve deposited your filing fee, I believe that anyone who stands in the election has the conviction that they will win. But the law clearly states that to win an election you need to get 50% more of the total votes cast, but the law says that even if you don’t win but get 25%, your money will be returned to you. Therefore, the filing fee is a deposit, ”he said.