NDC, NPP not the only political parties, stop sidelining us – Awingobit on GH¢100,000 filing fees

Flagbearer hopeful of the People's National Convention (PNC), Sampson Asaki Awingobit, has bemoaned the high rate at which the Electoral Commission of Ghana (EC) has pegged the presidential filing fee.

According to him, the GH¢100,000 filing fee is a way to marginalise the minority political parties to give room for just the two major political parties; the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP) to contest in the December polls.

In an interview with GhanaWeb, Mr Awingobit stated that “Our 1992 constitution did not give an opportunity to only inter-two party political state. The 1992 constitution gives us the right to practice and experience multi-party democracy in this country. With what the EC has done, the EC is one way or the other trying to just say what we are hearing in the public that in Ghana whether you like it or not it has become a two-party state. It is between NPP and NDC and I think that that notion must be devoid”.

He was of the view that the EC should have rather protected the smaller political parties by retaining the GH¢50,000 presidential filing fee for all to partake.

“They are trying to marginalise us; the EC should not be the person to have done that to us. The EC should have been the first person to protect the smaller parties”.

“I completely frown on that; that we still use filing fees to juxtapose by denying minority parties of not filing for the 2020 elections”.

Meanwhile, the EC has justified the 100 per cent increment in the filing fee.

The Deputy Chairman of the Commission, Dr Bossman Eric Asare, declared that the price was increased to match the value of the local currency.

The Electoral Commission on Monday, September 15, 2020, announced that Presidential candidates are required to pay GH¢100,000 as filing fees while Parliamentary candidates pay an amount of GH¢10,000.

The money, when paid through a banker’s draft, qualifies them to partake in the elections.