The Electoral Commission (EC) has justified the 100% filing fee increment for presidential candidates in the December polls.
The EC, at a press conference on Monday, announced that filing and receipt of Presidential and Parliamentary forms will take place from 5th to 9th October 2020.
The Commission also indicated filing fees are GH₵100,000 and GH₵10,000 for presidential and parliamentary candidates respectively.
The fees have angered some small political parties who have described them as outrageous.
However, justifying the amount, Deputy Chairperson of EC, Dr Bossman Asare, noted that it was in order and in accordance with the value of the currency.
“It is not just because we can increase it but let’s be frank; every four years we increase the prices so far as nomination fees are concerned. So in 2012 presidential was almost 10,000 and it came to 50,000 in 2016 then 2020 is 100,000,” he said.
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He added: “It is important you look at the value of the money GH¢50,000.00 in 2016, then compare it to GH¢50,000.00 in 2020 then you will notice that the Commission has not increased it much.
To Dr Bossman, the Commission is doing this to promote multiparty democracy in Ghana.
“And even when you look at the filing fee for parliamentary aspirants, the GH¢10,000, you will realise that the Commission has reduced the price because we all know that GH¢10,000 in 2016, is not the same as GH¢10,000 in 2020,” he argued.