Nana Kwame Bediako popularly known as Cheddar, the aspiring 2024 presidential candidate for the New Force movement, has accused the Electoral Commission (EC) of deliberately denying him a political party license.
Bediako claims that despite fulfilling all requirements and submitting the required documents, the EC has failed to provide his group with a provisional license, leaving the New Force in a state of uncertainty.
Speaking in an interview on TV3 on January 11, 2024, he detailed the hurdles, his party has faced in its pursuit of formal recognition.
“I started my journey and I realized that the kind of things I have to do to have a political party were quite tough. I had to get these officers in the regions and buildings, and of course, I started. We did the work; we went to get offices in all 16 regions.
“We did what the law is saying... We submitted them to the EC, all the documents and then we paid the first money to say that you can become a political party, but we are going to give you a provisional license.
"And then you go to the rest of the constituencies, which is a hundred and seventy-seven districts that we have to also create more offices, which we are ready and we have it in motion.
"Now, when we did that, the clause says that they would reply after seven days, every time we have gone back to ask, they say that they were doing something, they were waiting for this and that,” he said.
He went on to express concern about the lack of transparency in the process, adding “It has been two, three months and then what I hear the most that worries me is; orders from above.
“I don't go there myself but someone will tell my people that orders from above say that; maybe we should wait, orders from above are saying that we should arrest this, we should keep this, orders from above are saying that we should cancel this.
“We, as the New Force are a little bit confused about the entire national governance. I feel like there have to be some human rights in there, which I think Ghana is not fully going by because clearly, we are still waiting to be responded to. At least give us a letter,” he lamented.
AM/SARA
You can also watch the latest episode of Everyday People on GhanaWeb TV below: