The National Democratic Congress, NDC, has defended its decision to charge GHC 400,000 as filing fees for aspirants seeking to contest the party’s flagbearer race.
According to the party, the fees will largely help cater for the huge cost associated with holding elections.
The NDC set a filing fee of GHC 400,000 and an additional GHc 20,000 as fees for nomination forms for their upcoming presidential primaries scheduled for the 19th of January 2019.
Speaking to the media, General Secretary of the NDC Johnson Asiedu Nketia said persons who seek to lead the party should be able to bear the cost.
“If you compare these monies against the cost of organizing the activities we are talking about, you will realize that the party will still have to raise money to supplement whatever will be accruing from these filing fees so I do not see how anybody can say that it is outrageous. NPP three years ago was charging 500,000. We were all with you here in this country, did you complain?
“And three years on, we are charging GHC 400, 000 and you still say ours is too much? It is perfectly in line that you will charge filing fees to be able to pay for the activity that will elect the Flagbearer, otherwise the alternative will be to charge the party members across board who are vulnerable.”
NPP’s filing fees wasn’t GHc500,000
However, checks by Citi News show that the NPP’s filing fee was Ghc50,000 and not Ghc500,000 as claimed by Asiedu Nketia. The filing fee for women and persons with disabilities will be GHc 200,000.
These decisions were taken at a National Executive Council, NEC, meeting of the NDC on Thursday. A decision is yet to be made on a schedule for the party’s parliamentary primaries.
The decision on the presidential Primary comes barely two weeks after the party elected its national executives for the next four years.
Former President John Dramani Mahama; the Second Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Alban Sumana Bagbin; a former Finance Minister, a former Deputy Finance Minister, Kweku Ricketts-Hagan are among the notables whohave declared intent to contest the primaries.
Others who have stepped up include the former Vice Chancellor of the University of Professional Studies, Accra, Prof. Joshua Alabi; a former Minister of Trade and Industry, Ekwow Spio-Garbrah; a former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the National Health Insurance Authority, Sylvester Mensah; a former MCE of Kumasi, Kojo Bonsu; Nurudeen Iddrisu; Stephen Atubiga and Goosie Tanoh.
Per the statutes of the NDC, the election of a flagbearer was to have taken place by December 7, 2018; 24 months before the 2020 general elections.
However, the delegates’ conference was postponed and held on November 17, 2018, a change that subsequently affected the date for the election of a flag bearer.
This compelled the party to amend its constitution to enable the presidential primary to be held later than the December 7, 2018 date.
Mahama the frontrunner?
Coming off the national delegetes conference, the support for John Mahama was overwhelming from NDC supporters.
Even before he had declared his intent, the 10 Regional Chairmen of the NDC had backed the candidature of Mr. Mahama for election 2020.
The 10 regional chairman, after a meeting at the time, issued a communique in which they urged the former President to consider running for the 2020 polls.
Ninety-four NDC MPs out of the Minority Caucus of 106 also endorsed Mr. Mahama as the flagbearer for the 2020 polls prior to his announcement.
The list of the MPs backing him was made public after he made his intention to contest public.
Source: citinewsroom.com
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He is NDC Trump, full of bullshit. The man can not dress himself and everything to him is a lie. Trumping all over the place. It is not the amount, it is how ***barred word*** he looks after yet lying to Ghanaians. Shame on me
Gen Mosquito, pls chk ur facts and stop spewing garbage and lies. NPP Filing Fees was 75,000gh and nomination fee was 10,000 gh. Pls peacefmonline, do give us the benefit of the doubt and do descent journalism reporting with facts and fugures. Its a shame
The whole NDC general mosq.can not differentiate between 50,000 and 500,000
NDC PARTY AND SATAN ARE THE SAME.HOW CAN YOU SAY THINGS ARE HARD IN GHANA BUT YOU ARE CHARGING GHS400000?FFOOOOOOOLLLLSS.
Never in the NPP did they charge 500.000 rather it was 50.000 Ghana Cedis three yrs ago.
How did Asiedu Akaatia arrived at the 500,000 filing fees for NPP Presidential Primaries?
The DNA of Ndc is li:es. Dirty, si::lly propaganda is what they feed/ live on. Since when has 50,000 become 500,000. This deliberate distortion of facts has been the trade in stock of this backward thinking party and their followers. Because they don’t read and have short memories they take all Ghanaians as ***barred word***. This bunch of ***barred word***, clueless thi!ev:es never cease to contradict themselves because they are bereft of common sense. Sometimes I wonder how sincere they are as Christians and Moslems. The worse thing that has been the bane of Ghana’s development is this national destructive cancer (NDC). Ghanaians are wiser. Please us your ***barred word***.
The incompetent ones NDC greedy party eeeeeeeeeeeee take note and note is served that no where in the political history of the GREAT NPP have we as a party have we charged anyone for 500000 for filling of nomination to contest the primaries in our party. Buabeng Asamoah eeeeeeeee you and your people should quickly do the needful by putting the roight information into the public before this vampires muddy the waters. Already their use less foot soldiers have started defending their astronomical amount with what their use less general secretary have pit up yesterday in the defence of the huge figure.