NDC, NPP conspired with EC to raise filing fees - PPP

The National Chairman of the Progressive People’s Party (PPP) Nii Allotey Brew-Hammond, has accused both the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the main opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) of conspiring with the Electoral Commission to hike this year’s presidential filing fees.

According to the PPP National Chairman, the two parties are gradually succeeding in turning the country into a two-party state. The Electoral Commission in 2012 charged presidential nominees GH¢10,000 while for the parliamentary 1,000.

The filing fees for presidential aspirants saw a 500 percent increment for 2016.

This decision however received wide condemnation from some smaller political parties, including the Progressive People’s Party (PPP).

The party subsequently filed suit at the Accra High Court to challenge the appropriateness of the EC to take filing fees.

Speaking on Onua Fm’s morning show ‘Yen Nsempa’, Nii Allotey Brew-Hammond posited that EC’s decision to inflate the filing fee was not done in isolation.

He maintained that the EC had no justification for raising the filing fees, if not for any ulterior motives.

Justifying his assertion, the PPP National Chairman said “I was at that IPAC meeting where Charlotte Osei made that announcement and both NPP and NDC did not say anything. Johnson Asiedu as well as Mac Manu and O.B Amoah from NDC and NPP respectively, why didn’t they complain when all other political parties there raised issues with it?”

He said if the Electoral Commission is implementing the political party’s law effectively and rigorously, NDC and NPP would not have qualified to contest elections.

“The EC should tell us if both NDC and NPP over the years have been able to disclose their financial status as required by law and also if they have offices in all the 275 constituencies, they don’t but nobody questioned them, can’t you see that it is a ploy,” Nii Allotey Brew-Hammond queried.

The PPP National Chairman said the party will not give up in ensuring that injustices are ceased in the Ghanaian society.