Civil society organisations have called for major reforms to Ghana’s electoral system, including the adoption of a model law and the establishment of an independent electoral party regulator to oversee campaign financing and ensure fairness in political campaigning.

The calls come on the back of a study by the Gender Centre for Empowering Development, which has identified what it describes as deep-seated structural barriers within Ghana’s electoral system.

Programme Officer at CDD-Ghana, Joseph Oti Frimpong, has warned that the growing role of money in elections risks undermining the credibility of Ghana’s electoral process.

He explained that the draft model law is aimed at regulating political party campaign financing in the country.

According to him, the current framework, which includes the Constitution and the Political Parties Act, 2000 (Act 574), provides for the regulation of political parties, but there remain significant gaps in the campaign financing regime.

He noted that the existing laws largely regulate political parties rather than individual candidates.

“We don’t have spending limits for political parties. So that’s the gap that the draft model law seeks to address,” he said.

The January 2026 research found that the high cost of political campaigns continues to disadvantage women, persons with disabilities, and other marginalised groups, with political parties often favouring candidates with greater financial resources.