A group photo of participants and panellists after the event
Panellists at a roundtable discussion at the Institute of Democratic Governance (IDEG) themed: “Strengthening Developmental Political Parties in Ghana: A Call for Regulatory and Funding Reforms” have called for the creation of a new office to be solely responsible for the activities of political parties.
The panellists comprised Kofi Bentil, Senior Consultant, Bentil Consulting Limited; Elvis Afriyie Ankrah, Member National Democratic Congress (NDC); Peter Mac Manu, Member New Patriotic Party (NPP) and Wilbert Nam-Katoti, a former Accountant, Electoral Commission (EC).
At the IDEG auditorium on Wednesday, they noted that the EC had over the last 26 years of the country’s democratic dispensation focused only on the conduct of elections to the neglect of other critical mandates.
They blamed the EC for the current state and conduct of the political parties, adding that what is happening now among political parties should be seen as a clarion call for reforms to curb corruption and other vices.
Mac Manu, Elvis Afriyie Ankrah and Kofi Bentil stressed that the new office to be created out of the EC should serve as a registration centre for political parties. Besides, the office should deal with the conduct and operations of political parties so that they can operate according to the dictates of the Constitution of the country.
They further shared the opinion that there are more laws to guide the conduct of political parties and what needs to be done now is to put in place a body that would enforce them.
Panellists suggested that the new office could be shifted to the Registrar General Department or it could be created as a department within the EC.
On his part, Elvis Afriyie Ankrah called for the extension of term of office for the President saying that the current four-year mandate was not enough to achieve much as required by the people.
He suggested terms between five and six years for any President adding that this would give fair assessment of how the government had performed over the years.
The General Secretary of NDC, Asiedu Nketia, opined that there is the urgent need to enforce the laws on political parties funding at least to take care of the research and capacity building programmes.
“It is on record that government in power directly or indirectly funds his party. However, I am of the opinion that the nation discusses this further so that it is carried out within a transparent manner,” he remarked.
The Executive Director of IDEG, Dr. Emmanuel Akwetey, indicated that the roundtable discussions were the first in a series to be held nationwide to discuss these issues which are crucial for the rapid development of the nation.
“Political parties have over the years become ‘election machines’ specializing only in what will help them win elections to the neglect of the development agenda of the nation as a whole; the time has come for political parties to be seen as agents of change affecting the lives of the people,” he stated.
By Solomon Ofori