Filing fees expensive – O.B. Amoah

The filing fees for presidential and parliamentary nominees for this year’s general elections are too high, the Chairman of the Subsidiary Legislation Committee in Parliament, Osei Bonsu Amoah, has said.

At an Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) meeting held in Accra on Thursday September 8, the Electoral Commission (EC) announced that parliamentary candidates would have to pay GHS10,000 to file their nomination while presidential candidates are expected to part with GHS 50,000.

The Commission has set 29 September as the deadline for the filing of nominations.

Speaking on the matter in an interview with Chief Jerry Forson, host of Ghana Yensom on Accra100.5FM on Friday September 9, the Member of Parliament for Akuapem South said: “The Electoral Commission fixed the price and told us that this was the amount they were demanding. When we complained, they told us they would have a second look at it but until then the amount would hold.”

He added: “The EC will need to explain how they arrived at that amount at a time everybody is complaining of financial difficulties. You are asking people who want to run for parliamentary seats to pay GHS10,000. This is not a small amount of money for someone who wants to serve his nation. All of us believe it is too expensive.”