Politics
Broke Ghana cannot fund political parties at the moment – Mahama
John Dramani Mahama has kicked against the state financing political parties because, in his view, the country is broke and cannot absorb additional expenditure streams.
Instead, Mr. Mahama is suggesting political parties broaden their funding sources through technology powered by electronic crowdfunding platforms.
In his address at a public lecture on political financing in Ghana and the launch of the JM 2024 fundraising platform at the UPSA in Accra on Wednesday, March 22, 2023, the former president said, “as a key actor in our political space since 1996, I can attest to the relevance of ethical campaign financing in Ghana. Whereas some political actors have advocated state sponsorship for political parties, the truth is Ghana is, today, broke. Ghana is struggling to secure an IMF programme lest the economy collapses totally by end of March 2023, according to the Minister for Finance. This being the case, Ghana cannot, at the moment, absorb additional expenditure streams.”
He noted that, “truth be told, the state already supports political parties in many ways—many political parties have on many occasions had their filing fees returned to them after elections because they attained the minimum threshold of votes. This means the state finances filing fees.”
Also, in the past, he indicated that the government, through the Electoral Commission, procured and distributed vehicles to political parties in proportion to their share of votes in the immediately past election.
“With the possibility of further state financing shut, at least for now,” he said his aim is to “re-open the conversation on political party financing in Ghana, with emphasis on needed reforms and regulation to promote transparent and broad-based financing options for parties.”
Mr. Mahama said in the future, if the state wants to continue to finance political parties, there should be an independent and credible institutions that should be mandated to ensure fairness in sharing the funds to beneficiary parties.
“Ghana today is broke. International credit rating agencies have placed us on junk status. Additional state financing can, therefore, not be a viable option on the table. Even if that becomes an option in the future, I recommend that we put in place explicit public funding of political parties bill in a bipartisan and inclusive manner.
“I further recommend that should public funding of political parties be scaled up in the foreseeable future; then, an independent and credible institution must be selected to administer the state resources advanced to political parties.
“In that regard, a sharing formula could be established to ensure fairness and specific disclosure requirements on beneficiary parties. This must be complemented by auditing and publication of party accounts,” the former president suggested.
Politics
We control one-third of NPP; No major decision can be taken without consulting us – Ken Agyapong
Assin Central Member of Parliament Kennedy Agyapong says his performance at the just-ended New Patriotic Party (NPP) presidential primary shows that he is a force to be reckoned with and that no major decision can be taken by the party without consulting him.
Mr. Agyapong made the comments on Saturday, November 11, during a “Showdown” Thanksgiving party organized for his supporters and coordinators during the NPP presidential primary campaign.
Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia won the presidential primary with 118,210 votes, representing 61.47%, while his closest contender, Mr Agyapong, polled 71,996 votes, representing 37.41%.
Speaking at the party, Mr Agyapong thanked his campaign team and said that he was “underestimated” ahead of the primary.
“They underestimated us, but we’ve proven to them that we now control one-third of the NPP,” Mr. Agyapong said. “No major decision will be taken without consulting us.”
Mr. Agyapong added that he had been underestimated by many, including a pastor who predicted that his best performance would be 16%.
“There was this pastor who even said if I get more than 16 percent, he [pastor] should be killed,” Mr. Agyapong said. “But today, I am praying for that pastor, that God should grant him long life and he should not die soon.”
The showdown Thanksgiving party brought together in Accra all coordinators of Mr. Agyapong from every region in Ghana.
The Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia has been elected to lead the New Patriotic Party (NPP) for Election 2024 as flagbearer.
It had been predicted Bawumia was going to win with a larger margin but as promised, Kennedy Ohene Agyapong gave him a “showdown”.
Ken Agyapong, the Member of Parliament for Assin Central came second with 37.41%.
Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto came third with 0.76% while Francis Addai Nimoh was last with 0.41%.
The Institute of Research Innovation & Development at Kumasi Technical University, in its latest poll, has disclosed that Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia stands a greater chance of winning the upcoming New Patritoc Party (NPP) flagbearer race as he will most likely secure an overwhelming victory in eight regions.
Ahead of the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) presidential primaries on Saturday, November 4, many researchers have tipped Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia as leading the race, with Assin Central MP Kennedy Agyapong being his closest contender.
The latest to conduct a poll on the upcoming election is the Institute of Research Innovation & Development at Kumasi Technical University.
The director of the Institute, who is the lead researcher for the poll, Prof. Smart Sarpong, in an interview with Citi News, disclosed that 15,595 NPP delegates were engaged.
He noted that the key components considered among the four aspirants were who is the most unifying, who has the most visible leadership qualities, who is most likely to break the “8,” as well as non-policy factors such as religion and ethnicity were taken into account.
Prof. Smart Sarpong disclosed that 71.1% of the respondents said Dr. Bawumia has a higher chance of breaking the “8,” while 26.8% of them stated that Kennedy Agyapong stands a better chance of breaking the “8.” 1.8% and 0.3% chose Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto and Mr. Addai Nimo, respectively.
69.9% also described Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia as the most unifying, whereas 19.4% said Kennedy Agyapong is the most unifying. In terms of being the most unifying, Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto had 8.5%, while Francis Addai Nimo had 2.2%.
In terms of being the aspirant with the most visible leadership qualities, 70.5% of the delegates engaged chose Dr. Bawumia, and 19.4% mentioned Mr. Kennedy Agyapong. 8.1% and 2.0% of the delegates chose Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto and Addai Nimo, respectively.
With respect to how religion or ethnocentrism can influence the choice of vote, 13.4% said religion would be taken into consideration, while 86.4% said they would not consider religion. 13.8% of the delegates said they would strongly consider ethnicity, while 86.2% said they would not consider one’s ethnic background before voting for them. 97.1% noted they would take into account the past record of each person before voting for them, while 2.9% said that factor would not be considered.
Out of the 16 regions and the one national headquarters, Prof. Smart Sarpong revealed that Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has a commanding lead in eight (8) regions with an average of 81.9%.
“Out of these 17 clusters (the 16 regions and the NPP national headquarters), I see 8 of the clusters being already decided. The Vice President has taken a very good lead. Those regions include; North East, Northern region, Upper East and Upper West, Ashanti, Bono, Eastern, and Volta.”
Prof. Smart Sarpong further noted that their research predicts that the election would be open in five regions, as none of the aspirants has a clear lead.
He, however, noted that the work the aspirants put in a few days before the election could change the dynamics.
“It is 50/50 for any aspirant who works extra harder. Those 5 regions include the Western region, Savannah region, BonoEast region, the party headquarters, and Western North.”
The research also showed that Mr. Kennedy Agyapong could have a clear lead in four other regions if he works harder, as he is leading with an average of 49.6%.
“The following regions have the potential of going for Hon. Ken Ohene Agyapong. They are likely going to go for him. It doesn’t mean he should go to sleep on them. He should try and consolidate whatever gains he has in these four regions. So, Hon. Ken and the team, Oti region, Greater Accra region, Central region, and Ahafo region.”
Reacting to the latest poll, the spokesperson of the Kennedy Agyapong campaign team in the Ashanti region, William Kusi, insists that despite the research stating that their candidate is not strong enough in the Ashanti region, their own poll states otherwise.
“Our candidate, for instance, has combed the whole country, and we as a campaign team have also done a lot of work, especially in the Ashanti region. We have heard of the sponsored polls that have come out and are giving Dr. Bawumia the lead, but we disagree because on the ground, we are far ahead.
For instance, our internal polls suggest that we are going to have 75-80 percent support in the Ashanti region. So, when I heard of the polls from the one who always fails, Ben Ephson, for instance, I was like, what is happening? Smart Sarpong at the regional level did so well with his polls. It was accurate, but he is getting it wrong this time,” he said.
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