This is according to a research conducted by the Westminster Foundation for Democracy (WFD), and the Center for Democratic Development (CDD).

The report found that multiparty democracy and its highly competitive elections had resulted in the rising cost of political campaigns in the country.

Analyzing the campaign spending of aspiring Members of Parliament between 2012 and 2016, the report indicated that, the cost of running successful campaigns had risen by 59% over the four-year period covering two national elections.

The report warned that, the rising cost may result in just a few wealthy people having the opportunity to hold public office with Members of Parliament becoming incentivized to recoup their campaign spendings rather than genuinely serving their constituencies.

“Ghana has held six elections since returning to multiparty democracy in 1992, with three peaceful power transitions, including, in 2016, the first defeat of a sitting incumbent. However, multiparty competitive elections can be costly affairs for aspiring and incumbent legislators. WFD research found between 2012 and 2016, the cost of running for political office in Ghana increased 59%.”

“On average, candidates needed to raise approximately GHS 390,000 (approx. USD 86,000) to secure the party primary nomination and compete in the parliamentary election in their constituency. If the cost of politics rises to unaffordable levels, the danger is that politics becomes the domain of the elite and wealthy and that the motivation and incentives of MPs move from serving the public to recovering their own investment,” the report said.

The report considered expenditure on campaigns, payment of party workers, media and advertisement and donations.

Spending based on gender

It emerged that on average, male candidates spent more in their campaigns than the female counterparts especially in Municipal areas “where party primaries, particularly those of Ghana’s two main political parties (the NDC and NPP) can be very expensive affairs; and where an ability to spend the most money is, by and large, a critical factor in successfully winning a seat in elected office.”

‘MPs need two years’ salary to campaign’

Given the fact that MPs earn GHS 233,000 each year, it is apparent that they would require two years’ combined salary to enable them effectively campaign ahead of elections.

“In Ghana, a sitting MP earns GHS 233,000 annually (approx. USD 51,000). Therefore a successful election campaign on average costs them the equivalent of the best part of two years’ wages. This illustrates how much of a barrier to entry the cost of politics can have on ordinary Ghanaians who are keen to seek political office, but lack substantial sponsorship.”

“It is important to note that, the figures quoted for the items above also do not account for all the ‘soft’ money raised and spent by the candidates in the parliamentary primaries because according to respondents, tracking how much a candidate spent in any contest is an extremely difficult exercise: ‘it is a fact that there are so many items we spent money on, which cannot be accounted for in our election budgets’, a candidate who wished to remain anonymous said. The actual cost is therefore likely to be higher than the numbers provided.”

‘Implications of rising cost’

The report observed that, a major effect of the rising cost of rising to the position of a Member of Parliament could result in;

• Exclusion: women and youth suffer disproportionately when the cost of politics rises.
• Disillusionment: increasing costs lead to the perception that competence takes a backseat to wealth in gaining seats in parliament.
• Corruption: mounting MP debts make them susceptible to various forms of corruption.

On the way forward in correcting the imbalances, the report said;

Those surveyed expressed strong support for remedies that affected other institutions or groups. For instance, 80% supported laws that requires balanced media coverage during elections. 88% supported civic education programmes that encouraged voters to stop making financial demands on candidates or MPs.

The sample also supported interventions that would likely benefit them personally, whether financially or indirectly. 85% supported a reduction in filing fees imposed on candidates by electoral commissions or political parties. This has been a particularly large growth area for political costs, as parties have come to realize the potential rents to be gained from extracted significant fees from their candidates.

There was far less support, however, for regulations that restricted their own ability to operate within campaigns. Just 50% favoured a cap on spending for electoral campaigns, while only 56% supported a similar cap on how much candidates could spend on media advertising. These kinds of caps have a somewhat chequered history in Sub-Saharan Africa, so the resistance may not be entirely self-serving, but the distinction is intriguing.

The report concluded that over 72% of the respondents expressed support for sanctions against those who engage in political patronage. Given that 83% of these same respondents declared their approval of political patronage in a previous question, this juxtaposition strengthens the hypothesis that most political actors would like to see the system change (and the costs reduce) but few to none feel they can make that change on their own.

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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Each MP spends GHC390,000 on election campaign – Report appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

“In most cases, Members of Parliament have been unnecessarily misunderstood and attacked for not championing the cause of socio-economic development in their constituencies,” Mr. Osei-Kyei Mensah-Bonsu, the Majority Leader and Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, noted.

Addressing a ‘Parliamentary Constituency Forum’ at Asante-Bekwai in the Ashanti Region, he said the rate of ‘ignorance’ about the core functions of parliamentarians amongst the average Ghanaian was worrying.

“The august house has over the years lost some very experienced and knowledgeable personalities as their constituents agitate for their removal for not spearheading the development of their areas. This is unfortunate,” he lamented.

The Parliamentary Constituency Forum was a collaboration between the National Commission on Civic Education (NCCE) and Parliament to promote public understanding of the duties and responsibilities of parliamentarians.

The programme was put together by the Public Affairs Unit of Parliament to create a platform for the people to engage their representatives, as well as the leadership in order to promote national development issues.

It fell in line with the on-going outreach programme of the Unit designed to allow for participatory democracy and rule of law.

The programme had in attendance the majority and minority leadership, traditional authorities, civil society organizations, and a cross-section of the public.

Topics discussed encompassed the legislative, informational and financial control functions of parliament, Directive Principles of State Policy, functions of the Public Accounts Committee, as well as duties of the various caucuses in Parliament.

Mr. Mensah-Bonsu stated that, parliamentarians would continue to build consensus on issues that affect the interest of the people.

He advised Ghanaians to be law-abiding in the discharge of their duties since no meaningful development could take place in a chaotic environment.

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Source: GNA

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According to the voters, the education level of their parliamentarians of great priority to them.

The report was based on a survey conducted by the Institute between November and December 2015 across all 10 regions of the country.

83.7 percent of respondents said the education level of their Members of Parliament was most important to them.

The 1992 Constitution is loudly silent on the level of education one must attain before contesting to be a Member of Parliament.

In recent years, many have had cause to worry about the kind of arguments and submissions made by some Members of Parliament on the floor of the House.

It is believed that the lack of confidence to express one’s self on the floor of Parliament and the lack of understanding of issues discussed has caused some MPs to remain silent throughout debates.

Some have said that the lack of tertiary education by some MPs is affecting the work of the House.

Director of Advocacy and Programmes at the IEA, Dr. Frankie Asare Donkor in an interview with Citi News said the majority of Ghanaians are worried their MPs do not speak in Parliament.

He said, “With such background [tertiary education], it prepares one to be able to deal with issues in a better way. You can understand and analyse things better. Those who do not speak in parliament, our observation is that they lack the ability to speak the kind of language expected of parliamentarians and they haven’t on their own been able to think of issues seriously and critically to make contributions in Parliament.”

A recent report by a civil society organization focused on activities of the legislature, Odekro, identified 19 members of Parliament who had not made any comment on the floor of the house throughout the 4-year sitting of the 6th Parliament.

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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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According to him, the government noticed the challenges most businesses suffer, and has taken the action to ensure that they do not collapse or remain stagnant,  but grow to augment government’s efforts in providing more jobs.

Speaking on Eyewitness News, the Obuasi West legislator discounted claims that the removal of some import duties will promote the influx of inferior goods into the country.

He noted that, the government has put in place efficient mechanisms to raise funds to finance all the policies and programmes it announced in the 2017 budget statement.

The Minister for Finance, Ken Ofori Atta on the floor of Parliament on Thursday [March 2, 2017, announced about twelve taxes that have been abolished and a few others reviewed downwards.

Most of the taxes directly affect private businesses in sectors such as finance, real estate, trade, import and export.

He also announced the government’s commitment to roll out key programmes such as the one-district one-factory and one village one-dam this year.

Some members of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), have cast doubt over about the ability of the government to achieve these programmes, but Mr Kwarteng says the government will realign its finances to achieve the desired results.

“The abolishing of special import duty on spare parts is designed to help businesses. If you want the businesses to grow, we need to remove their burden. All the tax removals that we have done, the stimulus package for industries that are dying, are all intended to boost our ability to produce and export. That will happen. We have rolled out these interventions and we are inviting the Ghanaian public to support us,” he said.

NPP’s 2017 budget is “deceptive and populist”

A former Deputy Minister of Finance, Cassiel Ato Forson, has described the 2017 budget statement and economic policy presented before parliament as deceptive and populist.

According to him, the budget does not fit into the country’s medium-term objectives and will lead the country into difficult times.

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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @jnyabor

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The 19 were made up of 16 in the then National Democratic Congress (NDC) majority, and 3 in the New Patriotic Party (NPP) minority.

The MPs include  Kwasi Boateng Adjei (New Juaben North), Nii Oakley Quaye-Kumah (Krowor),  Mary Salifu Boforo (Savelugu), Jeff Tetteh Kavianu (Upper Many Krobo), and Kwabena Amankwa Asiamah (Fanteakwa North).

The report, produced by Odekro, a civil society organisation with focus on Ghana’s governance system, rated the performance of all MPs based on metrics that include their contributions on the floor of parliament and their attendance.

According to the report, the worst performing MPs in the Sixth Parliament were Evans Paul Aidoo (Sefwi-Wiawso constituency) who scored 11.50% on the report sheet. Queenstar Pokua Sawyerr (Agona east constituency) scored 16.98% while, Dr. Nii Oakley Quaye-Kumah (Krowor constituency) 17.09%.

Kennedy Ohene Agyapong (Assin Central constituency) scored 18.29% while Dr. Mustapha Ahmed (Ayawaso East), 18.60%.

The Member of Parliament for Old Tafo constituency, Anthony Akoto Osei, and that of Ketu North constituency James Klutse Avedzi, were among those who scored the highest marks in terms of attendance and performance.

A statement released by Odekro on the report said, “We verified the completeness of our dataset by comparing our cache of data to a list of Parliament’s sitting days obtained from staff of the Parliamentary service. On each sitting day, three documents are produced namely, the Hansard, Order Paper and Votes and Proceedings. Consequently, for each date on Parliament’s calendar we have access to three primary documents.”

“We verified the accuracy of this data set by confirming that each document bore the official seal of Parliament, followed the pattern of Parliament’s formatting and was marked as having been produced by the Table Office or the Hansard Office respectively. Odekro’s Content Manager and Research Assistant both verified each documentary source of our data,” it added.

“We therefore assigned a weight of 40% of total score to attendance and 60% to the contribution score. Our rationale is simple. An MP’s presence in Parliament is practically of no effect if he or she does not contribute to deliberations in the house. MPs who are both present and contribute should therefore normally be ranked better than MPs who make regular appearances in Parliament but do not contribute to the work of the house,” the statement further said.
The report document indicated that 73 out of the 275 Members of Parliament were absent without permission; a violation of article 97(1)(c) of the constitution.

It also noted that, only 28 MPs held a clean record of never absenting themselves from the house without permission.

“NPP MPs made an average of 199 statements over the 4 year period; 33 statements more than NDC MPs’ 166 statements.”

Click here for the full report

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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @jnyabor

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There are also at least 39 Members of Parliament (MPs), who are professionals in the legal service.

Most of the MPs in Ghana’s new parliament have two professional backgrounds making it easy for such MPs to serve in two different committees of the House.

An overview of the professions or professional background of all the new MPs provides a fair blend and representation of various key areas of the country’s growth engine; namely health, education, trade and industry, economy, science and technology, justice system, media, local government and management.

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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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