CPAG demands EC to publish audited accounts of political parties

The entire membership of Common Purpose Alliance Ghana, Movement of change (CPAG MoC) are very much concerned about the posture of the Electoral Commission of Ghana, the EC, with regards to the Political Parties Act 574, which enjoins all political parties to declare their assets, expenditure, liabilities, and audited accounts for the purposes of publication in a Gazette by the Electoral Commission.

In addition to Act 574, the 1992 constitution of Ghana orders all political parties in no uncertain terms that their very continuous existence and operations rest upon the complete adherence and obligations to declare the sources of their funds, assets declaration, liabilities, and audited accounts. The enforcers to the above-mentioned laws, the EC, therefore appears this far to have failed on its mandate to ensure a strict compliance by the political parties to adhere to the letter and spirit of this law.

This posture by the EC comes across as a blatant disregard to enforce Act 574 since the inception of the 1992 Constitution of the Republic of Ghana and quite frankly irresponsible. Furthermore, there is an unambiguously stipulated timeframe within which the political parties must comply with the letter of this law.

In the wisdom of the framers of this piece of legislation, the sanctions for non-compliance have been clearly stated in article 55 (14) of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana in conjunction with sections 13 & 14 of the Political Parties Law, Act 574, (2000).

We hereby, respectfully demand as required by law that, WITH NO FURTHER DELAY, the EC shall:

1. Shall publish the declarations of assets, expenditure, liabilities, and audited accounts of the Political Parties that have complied with the law and the EC’s deadline in compliance with Section 13 (5) of Act 574; “The Commission shall, within thirty days after receipt of the declaration required under subsection (1), cause it to be published in the Gazette.”

2. Shall in compliance with Section 21 (2) of Act 574 make available to CPAGMoC copies of the returns and audited accounts of all political parties filed with the Commission, * Shall with immediate effect publish the list of Political Parties that have failed to comply with the law and the EC’s directive,

3. Shall take immediate steps to apply the necessary sanctions against Political Parties which have failed to comply with the law as anticipated by Section 14 (4) of Act 574; 1. (4) Without prejudice to any other penalty provided in this Act or any other enactment, where a political party; (a) refuses or neglects to comply with this section; or (b) submits a statement which is false in any material particular, the Commission may cancel the registration of the political party. In our view, the EC has turned a blind eye to this very serious violations to the very condition that defines the continuous existence and operations of all political parties in Ghana.

The EC has a statutory and constitutional mandate to ensure the strict compliance of the Political Parties Act as well as 1992 Constitution of Ghana. The EC is doing the democratic path Ghana has embarked on a great disservice by undermining its own powers to strengthen Ghana’s democracy.

We consider the EC’s conduct as most intolerable and illegitimate. We hope these concerns shall be treated with the utmost urgency in order to restore the trust and confidence in our democracy whereby the EC has a pivotal role to play. Without further reminder, we will however prepare to use all legal means available to us in the 1992 Constitution of Ghana to ensure that the Electoral Commission shall be compelled to enforce Act 574 in accordance with the law.

SIGNED:

Awuriki Abraham Yeboah

(Executive Secretary, CPAG Directorate)