Set up national fund for political parties – IDEG

The Institute for Democratic Governance (IDEG) has supported the idea to set up a special fund to finance political parties in Ghana.

Such a fund, IDEG suggested, should not be the sole responsibility of the government, but corporate organizations and institutions must contribute to the fund.

Major General Nii Carl Coleman, Chairman of the Civic Forum Initiative (CFI) made the proposal during a National Interest Dialogue on Multi-Party Governance (MPG) and Constitutional Reforms organized by IDEG in Wa.

Major Coleman noted that just as in the case of the Ghana Educational Trust Fund (GETFund), an independent administrator should be appointed to manage such a fund when it is set up, to allay the fears in some people that the ruling government would control the fund to its advantage.

He said the appointed administrator should operate under strict guidelines set up by Parliament as to how the fund should be disbursed.

“For now, our political parties are more or less like election machines – they are not concentrating on developmental issues," he stated.

The CFI Chairman pointed out that political parties do not have strong research departments and so more often than not, they do not take care in crafting their manifestoes to reflect the real developmental needs of the people.

Major Coleman stated that the setting up of the fund would help political parties to set up strong research departments and organize their annual conferences as well as drafting of their manifestoes which could be incorporated into the national development plan to benefit the whole nation.

The National Interest Dialogue on the MPG and Constitutional Reforms, which is being organized by IDEG with sponsorship from STAR-Ghana across the various regions, is aimed at whipping up the citizen’s interest and support for the review process.