Parties funding won't be at expense of dev't - Afari-Gyan

Cape Coast, July 18, GNA - The Chairman of the Electoral Commission, Dr. Kwadwo Afari-Gyan, on Thursday said that the state funding of political parties would not be at the expense of national development. Dr Afari-Gyan noted that a vibrant multi-party system, could have a positive bearing on poverty eradication and that there was the need to guard against using the current state of the economy as "an excuse not to do things that are necessary."

He was reacting to concerns raised by Mr. Kwesi Cab-Addae, a legal practitioner and the representative of the Ghana Bar Association (GBA) at the Central Regional forum on the proposed state funding of political parties, held at the Sasakawa Centre of the University of Cape Coast (UCC).

The forum brought together some district chief executives, assembly members, representatives of political parties and other bodies like the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) and the GBA.

Mr Cab-Addae had expressed the view that there was the need to see to the eradication of poverty, and to the strengthening of democratic structures like the electoral commission and parliament, in the form of logistical support, before considering the funding of parties. He suggested the evolvement of what he termed short, medium and long-term measures, before gradually reaching that goal.

Dr Afari-Gyan enumerated the responsibilities of political parties in helping to shape the political will of the people and observed that challenges and problems facing parties had not enabled them to perform to expectation.

According to him, due to the lack of funds, most parties "are not firmly on the ground" and were unable to maintain offices outside the regional capitals during off-election periods.

" This is not good enough because without their presence in all areas, they can not do what the constitution expects of them in shaping the political will of the people," he declared.

The EC Chairman observed that when parties were unable to be part of the process, there was the tendency for them to make baseless allegations and stressed that to "remove controversy from electoral outcomes," ways must be sought to assist the parties.

He noted that there had already been some level of assistance to the parties, in the form of vehicles, office equipment and training programmes.

He said there was the need for the parties to be given sufficient assistance to enable them to acquire and staff their offices adequately and to mount effective election campaigns to translate the people's will into hopes.

Dr Afari-Gyan, however, pointed out that resources alone did not win elections and that there was the need for the parities to among others things have good organisational structures, quality posture, good leadership and appropriate messages for the people during campaigns. In an address read for him, the Regional Minister, Mr. Isaac Edumadze, lauded the organisers of the forum and said that in addition to the public funding, party supporters should also be encouraged to supplement such assistance through the regular payment of dues. This he said, would instil some sense of ownership in members and also avoid the situation where a few individuals by virtue of their financial contributions would be inclined to treat the party as their Bona-fide property.

Professor Dominic Kofi Agyeman, former Dean of Social Sciences at the UCC who was the moderator said funding of political parties was not something new but was being done in other places such as Sweden and Nigeria.

He tasked the participants to carry on the debate to the grassroots to amplify awareness about the importance of the issue. During an open forum, contributors drummed up support for the idea of state funding of political parties in the country.

There was also a consensus that a central fund should be set up for such assistance, but while some said a percentage of the district assemblies common fund should be used, others felt that the 10 per cent of monies contractors supposedly paid for contracts awarded should be legalised to facilitate the setting up of a fund for the parties.

There were, however, divergent views on pertinent issues such as how the parties were to be funded, who to manage the fund and the criteria to be used in the disbursement of the money.