The leadership of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) has cautioned regional executives of the party to desist from charging parliamentary aspirants extra fees beyond the party’s approved fees.
Some party activists in the Volta Region have expressed misgivings about moves by regional executives to charge new Parliamentary aspirants 10, 000 Ghana cedis as development levy.
[contextly_sidebar id=”P3mrHaCdmK9P4RbjdtIgvOpZZGs5ja7F”]Although NDC officials in the region have defended the decision, a Deputy General Secretary of the party, George Lawson, said the unauthorised fees must not be collected.
He argues that since the guidelines regarding the conduct of the parliamentary primaries are only drawn by the NEC, demands for additional fees are baseless.
“The guidelines were set up, drawn by the National Executive Committee- the second highest decision making body of the party.This[new] directive is going to undermine the authority of the NEC so may be they are joking,” he said.
Lawson further challenged aspirants to file at the national level if they are barred from contesting because they refused to pay those fees.
“…If they demand some illegal fees, then they [new entrants] can come and file at national, we will accept them.”
Prospective candidates who want to contest for the party’s parliamentary primary are expected to pay a filing fee of ten thousand cedis while, prospective female candidates and persons with disability will pay half of the total amount- they will pay GH₵5,000.00 as filing fee for the parliamentary primary.
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By: Marian Efe Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana