Revocation of party registration: 'Ghana is not a Banana Republic'- Odike

The founder and leader of the United Progressive Party (UPP), Akwasi Addai ‘Odike’ has described the Electoral Commission’s (EC) decision to revoke the registration of some political parties as discriminatory. The statement by the UPP leader comes after the EC threatened to revoke the registration of 17 political parties for not having offices across the country. The EC, in a statement, indicated that 17 parties had not met the requirements of the Political Parties Act 2000 The EC has given the affected political parties up to Thursday, October 20, 2022, to show proof of why their registrations should not be cancelled. Reacting to the development on Atinka FM’s AM Drive with host Kaakyire Ofori Ayim, Addai “Odike” accused the EC of deliberately working towards revoking the registration of UPP without a cause. According to Odike, the EC failed to formally write to him and request locations for his offices in the various regions. “It is unfair to treat us this way. What if you did not get the correct location for my offices, or if you did not ask the right person? They should have consulted me. "The law in this country doesn’t give the EC the mandate to cancel our registration. Even after the exercise, I was expecting the EC to call those of us who claim to have been affected to provide the details they were looking for. “Ghana is not a banana republic,” he added. The affected political parties are: the Democratic People’s Party (DPP), United Front Party (UFP), United Development System Party (UDSP), Every Ghanaian Living Everywhere (EGLE), Yes People’s Party (YPP), United Ghana Movement (UGM). The others are: Democratic Freedom Party (DFP), New Vision Party (NVP), Ghana Democratic Republican Party (GDRP), Ghana National Party (GNP), Power Unity Party (PUP), United Progressive Party (UPP), Reform Patriotic Democrats (RPD), People’s Action Party (PAP), United Renaissance Party (URP), National Reform Party (NRP), and United Love Party (ULP).

The founder and leader of the United Progressive Party (UPP), Akwasi Addai ‘Odike’ has described the Electoral Commission’s (EC) decision to revoke the registration of some political parties as discriminatory. The statement by the UPP leader comes after the EC threatened to revoke the registration of 17 political parties for not having offices across the country. The EC, in a statement, indicated that 17 parties had not met the requirements of the Political Parties Act 2000 The EC has given the affected political parties up to Thursday, October 20, 2022, to show proof of why their registrations should not be cancelled. Reacting to the development on Atinka FM’s AM Drive with host Kaakyire Ofori Ayim, Addai “Odike” accused the EC of deliberately working towards revoking the registration of UPP without a cause. According to Odike, the EC failed to formally write to him and request locations for his offices in the various regions. “It is unfair to treat us this way. What if you did not get the correct location for my offices, or if you did not ask the right person? They should have consulted me. "The law in this country doesn’t give the EC the mandate to cancel our registration. Even after the exercise, I was expecting the EC to call those of us who claim to have been affected to provide the details they were looking for. “Ghana is not a banana republic,” he added. The affected political parties are: the Democratic People’s Party (DPP), United Front Party (UFP), United Development System Party (UDSP), Every Ghanaian Living Everywhere (EGLE), Yes People’s Party (YPP), United Ghana Movement (UGM). The others are: Democratic Freedom Party (DFP), New Vision Party (NVP), Ghana Democratic Republican Party (GDRP), Ghana National Party (GNP), Power Unity Party (PUP), United Progressive Party (UPP), Reform Patriotic Democrats (RPD), People’s Action Party (PAP), United Renaissance Party (URP), National Reform Party (NRP), and United Love Party (ULP).