Criticisms by political parties over filing fees unwarranted – CODEO

The Coalition of Domestic Elections Observers (CODEO) says the criticism by political parties over the Electoral Commission’s decision to increase the filing fees for presidential and parliamentary nominees is unwarranted.

All the parties are up in arms against the EC after it announced at an Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) meeting last Thursday that parliamentary candidates will have to pay GH¢10, 000 while presidential candidates will be expected to part with GH¢50,000 to file for their nominations.

In 2012, parliamentary candidates payed GH¢1, 000 whiles presidential aspirants payed GH¢10, 000.

Spokesperson for CODEO John Larvi in an interview on 3FM’s News Hour said the increment is an incentive for the various nominees to work hard toward the elections.

“I don’t think it’s anything the political parties should complain about too much because the Electoral Commission has the mandate to fix the price”. He added that the political parties should rather engage the Commission professionally if they feel the fee is too high for them.

“These fees are actually called deposits. So if you do very well at the polls and you gain 25% as a presidential candidate, you get your money back and if you get 12% as a parliamentary candidate of the total vote you get your money back so it is an incentive for you to work very hard and get counted in the race”.