Peter Mac Manu, the former National Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), emphasized the importance of regulating campaign financing in Ghana. During a dialogue on National Elections in Ghana, he expressed concern about the normalization of political monetization in the country, which he believes undermines the practice of true democracy.
Mr. Manu pointed out that these practices discourage capable individuals from running in elections due to the significant monetary requirements. “When you spend a lot of money, you are excluding some qualified citizens who are unable to compete in elections due to financial constraints, and that should not be the case. However, I have heard discussions about the need for reform for the last 20 years or so, but it has been consistently put on the back burner.”
“Then, when elections are approaching, we bring it to the front burner, where we talk about it but never act on it. I think this is something as a country, we must be bold and things that are not going well for us, which are going to stifle our democracy, we must put a stop to it.”
He also opined that the Electoral Commission should set up an enforcement unit to supervise the accounts of political parties. “The EC should take seriously the establishment of an enforcement unit which would include a legal advisory support to enforce laws regarding the conditions for maintaining a registered political party and accounting for political party campaign finances.”
