William Boadi: We need qualified citizens to lead not the rich ones – EC must review its filing fees

“Nation’s whose nationalism is destroyed is subject to ruin” – Muammar al-Gaddafi

On the 14th September 2020, the Electoral Commission of Ghana announced the filing fee for both Parliamentary and Presidential Candidates in the upcoming general elections.

The fees were pegged at GH¢10,000 for Parliamentary and GH¢100,000 for Presidential.

Now, here comes the worry of the average citizens;

1. Did the EC consult the various parties and the independent candidates before coming up with the fee?
2. What informed the decision of the Commission to almost double the price that was quoted in the previous election?
3. Since every activity is funded by the tax payer’s money, how would the EC use that huge amount of money?
4. Are we actually looking for the rich to govern this country or patriotic citizens who have the qualities to lead this country to a first world country?

As a country, our ability to look beyond the box and adopt measures to curb corruption is our only bet against poverty.

It is an open secret that political parties in Ghana (especially the two major ones) now operate as joint ventures where groups of rich greedy men and women invest their monies, capture power and reap their investment with abnormal profits through fraudulent deals and nationally unpatriotic contracts in the bid to make undisclosed gains.

The EC is betraying the public trust and the power entrusted in them to deliver without bias. Worst of it is the bold individuals who have the brain and zeal to serve our motherland but unfortunately could not do so since the Electoral Commission has placed an illegally unconstitutional barrier on their way.

Many of those who even dare to deposit such sums ends up loosing it as they lose the elections since per the electoral law, only the winner gets his or her money refunded to him or her.

Ghana is currently having twenty five(25) political parties. Now analytically, should all the twenty five parties file their nomination for a presidential candidate, the E.C would be having GH¢2,500,000.00 in addition to independent candidates who may dare.

Also, should all the constituencies in Ghana have on average just five candidates contesting for each sit, the E.C would be making astronomic sum of money.

So now the big question remains, “since the poor men and women of this country are those paying for every activity of the E.C, why is the commission trying to bar the average citizen from being voted for, as guaranteed by the 1992 constitution of Ghana, by placing a monetary injunction or barrier on his or her way?

Educate Africa Institute deems it necessary that in the bid to fight corruption, its causes are dealt with and that can be achieved by ensuring that the Electoral Commission does the thing in order to enable almost every patriotic and qualified citizen afford the filing fees.

Let’s build Ghana with a national policy not party manifestos.

I am a concerned citizen of Ghana.

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William Boadi is President of Educate Africa Institute (EAI), Educationist and Motivational Speaker.