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The National Youth Organizer of the opposition Convention Peoples’ Party (CPP), Mr. Osei Kofi has threatened to stage a big demonstration against the Electoral Commission (EC) for charging exorbitant filing fees for both Parliamentary and Presidential race in the upcoming December 7 polls.

According to him, the Electoral Commission has an agenda to circumvent the multiparty democracy in the constitution to make it a two political parties affair, hence the decision to balloon the filing fees of Presidential to Ghc100,000.

“We will stage a big demonstration against them because our democracy which our constitution allows multi-party democracy, the EC wants to sidestep our democracy and turn it to a situation where only the two political parties, the NPP and NDC which have enriched their people to be the only political parties to do politics in the country”, he indicated.  

Speaking in anger on Okay FM’s Ade Akye Abia Morning Show, Osei Kofi reminded that the Electoral Commission (EC) is funded from the public purse as their budget is taken to Parliament for approval.

He added that the Electoral Commission’s activities are dependent on the taxpayers’ money, making it outrageous for the Electoral Commission to slap the political parties with such a huge filing fee.

He stated that the EC never proposed to maintain the Parliamentary filing fee that her predecessor Madam Charlotte Osei introduced and increased the Presidential filing fee.

He was of the view that if the law does not allow the Electoral Commission (EC) to consult the political parties on the filing fee, commons sense should have urged the Electoral Commission to discuss the filing fee with the political parties as they are the stakeholders when it comes to elections in the country.

He maintained that common sense should have allowed the Electoral Commission to consult the political parties and build a consensus as it is political parties that sponsor individuals who contest for both the Presidential and Parliamentary candidates. Thus, there is a reason why the political parties go for IPAC meetings constantly to discuss electoral matters and reach an agreement.

“If the law does not allow the EC to inform the political parties on the filing fees, common sense should have urged the EC to discuss the filing fee with the political parties because political parties are stakeholders when it comes to the elections of this country”, he jabbed.

He said that the Electoral Commission will be out of business and the December 7 polls will not come off if the ruling NPP, NDC, and CPP decide not to sponsor their candidates; asserting that the Electoral Commission is selling the country’s democracy to the highest bidder.

He, therefore, charged the Electoral Commission to go back to review the Presidential filing fee as the country’s democracy is not for the highest bidder. He thus, suggested to the EC to charge Ghc30,000 for the Presidential filing fee instead of the Ghc100,000.

“We are telling the EC Chair to go back and review the filing fee because it is a democracy to the highest bidder; that is what she is doing and there is no other explanation to it”, he charged.