How much e cost to do, win election for Ghana?

Elections don become more than just one civil process inside African democracies.

Pipo don dey worry ova election financing and how e fit to affect di playing field for di candidates.

Sabi pipo say evritin about politics for di kontri today don dey give way for corruption.

One ogbonge research group di centre for democratic development (CDD) begin to dey ring di alarm bells say “some of dis moni fit to come from illicit, illegal or criminal activities especially for kontri wia dem no dey chook eye inside mata about campaign financing.”

Beyond di plenti moni wia political parties and dia candidates dey spend na di cost of running elections by kontris for Africa.

In 2022, Kenya bin spend an estimated $383m on their general elections, one of di highest for di world.

Di independent national electoral commission (INEC) for Nigeria bin budget N313.4b ($215m) for di kontri 2023 elections wey for South Africa, di electoral management body don get R2.302b ($127m) for di financial year to run election-related activities, according to di kontris news agency.

For economy wia dey under $3b IMF bailout programme wey also don dey suffer cost-of-living crisis, pipo begin dey wonder if to spend plenti moni to conduct elections go make sense.

How much e dey cost to run Ghanaian election?

In 2020, di kontris electoral commission bin spend more than GH 760m ($51m) on election related activities – at di time di total voter population na 17 million.

Di EC bin spend GH 365m ($25m) on compilation of di voter’s register, an additional GH 80m ($5.3m) on what di commission don describe as non-financial assets and a further GH 288m ($19m) to conduct di elections, according to dia programme-based budget estimates for dat year.

Di commission also bin spend GH 28m ($1.9m) on “voter and electoral education.”

Four years later, Ghana’s parliament don approve GH 786.9m ($52m) for di electoral commission dia activities and di 2024 elections.

“Di commission don ask for additional GH 140m ($9.3m), wey dem tok say without di moni e go dey difficult to conduct di election,” leader of goment business for parliament Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu tok on di floor of parliament in December 2023.

Im tok for parliament say “di electoral commission wan use di moni to buy equipment wey go help di EC increase di number of polling stations, recruit and train electoral officers, replace staff wia don comot di commission, upgrade di data centre and purchase ICT equipment.”

Di electoral commission im 2024 programme-based budget estimate document don breakdown how di commission bin spend di moni.

Dis figure dey likely to rise as di electoral commission bin reprint millions of ballot papers afta dem find errors during di printing for some of di regions – specifically di Western, Volta, Ahafo and Eastern regions.

How expensive e dey to win an election for Ghana?

Di centre for democratic development im 2021 survey, wey dem update for 2023 bin find say e go cost not less dan GH 1.5b ($100m) to win presidential election for Ghana.

Director of advocacy for di centre for democratic development Dr Kojo Asante tok BBC Pidgin say some of di figures dey “outrageous”.

“Everibodi wey don dey enta goment dey owe or dey feel say dem gat to recoup dia investment; anyone wey dey support di party or candidate dey expect sometin in return.”

Im explain say “for di last couple of years pipo tink say dem go get beta profit if dem sponsor politicians dan to dey buy goment bond, sake of dis goment bonds don dey suffer - to invest for politician means you fit get plenti moni afta.”

Di research think tank also bin find for dia 2021 study “pipo wey dey work for illegal mining, illegal timber logging, illegal fishing and oda illicit flows don dey invest for politics for protection.”

Dis according to di think tank dey expose di kontris democracy to corruption in di process of selecting leaders to form goment.

For pesin to win seat for parliament, dey gat to spend not less than GH 9m ($600,000) from “cultivating di constituency, thru to primaries, investment for capital goods, development projects, campaigning to di voting day.”

“Dis fit to dey run for di whole four-year period – for any regular pesin wia dem go find dat kind moni, shey dem dey get dis moni from illegal sources, who dey sponsor? Dr Asante wondered.

Ghana laws dey regulate campaign financing?

Ghana political parties act 2000 (Act 574) don dey provide how political parties sabi fund dia activities and campaign sponsorship.

Di electoral commission gat to register dis parties and regulate dia activities – but dem no deal wit parties wia break di law.

Di constitution bin provide say di only pipo wey fit contribute or donate to political parties be citizens but di commission dey prohibit moni from foreign sources wey dey enta di kontri.

Also di law dey prevent non-citizens from sponsoring and political parties.

But di law dey quiet on candidates wey dey collect contributions from foreign pipo; sometin wey civil society groups don dey hope say e go change.

Di political parties per di law suppose declare dia source of funding in dia annual statements and audited accounts to di electoral commission but di law no require say di parties go mention di names of di pipo wey dey sponsor dem.

Some line items wey candidates dey spend during campaign for political office

Party filing fees – internal party primary fees for di two leading parties for dis year for parliamentary race don cost GH 45,000 ($3,000) for NDC and GH 90,000 ($6,000) for di goment new patriotic party (NPP), while di presidential filing fees for di opposition party na GH 530,000 ($36,000) and GH 90,000 ($6,000) for di NPP.

National filing fees – di country’s electoral commission don fix dis year nomination and filing fee at GH 100,000 ($6600) for di presidential forms and GH 10,000 ($667) from di last budgetary allocation wit 25% discount for female candidates.

Media advertisement and publicity – di parties don pour adverts for di various television, radio and newspapers. Many of dem don scatter billboards for everiwia. Di BBC don find estimates from one of di country’s leading private media networks wey be between GH 4,000 ($267) to GH 100,000 ($6600) for 30 sec ads – togeda wit live coverage of rallies and oda events. Imagine say you don dey pay double or three times of dis moni to oda stations to publish party candidates and their party activities

Constituency projects – to dey fix streetlights, drill boreholes, put asphalt for roads, build school blocks and to rebuild roads, aspiring candidates don dey invest in dis capital goods to convince di electorate. Dis projects also don dey cost nothing less than GH 10,000 ($667) per project wey dem fit to enta plenti millions of cedis.

Campaigning (vote-buying in some cases) – to organize ogbonge rallies, carry bus take pipo to campaign events, gifts like rice, cooking oil na some of di tins wey don dey cost plenti moni. E don become regular tin say parties go give moni to dia supporters bifor dem go attend dis rallies or even vote for di candidates. Ghana commissioner for human rights and administrative justice (CHRAJ) Joseph Whittal say to dey offer moni or gifts to pipo for votes na criminal.

“We go take pictures of vote-buying wey include camping voters, feeding dem and busing dem to voting centres. Di commission go present report on dis tins so say di authorities go act,” commissioner Whittal tok BBC Pidgin.

Money for polling agents – Di 2024 election dey happun for ova 40,000 polling centres, wey di various candidates gat to provide agents to monitor di vote for all dis centres. “For dis 40,000 centres, we di parties gatz to present two agents each – one to monitor di presidential vote and di oda, di parliamentary vote. Dat be ova 80,000 party agents, if each of dem collect GH 100 ($7) or GH 200 ($14) as allowance, dat alone na millions of cedis for party like di CPP wey no get moni,” presidential candidate of di party Nana Frimpomaa Sarpong Kumankumah explain to BBC Pidgin.

Sabi pipo don tok say dis kind trend go continue for long unless di laws on campaign financing begin to work.

Until den, e go cost nothing less dan $100m to win presidential election for Ghana – and more so if una dey contest on di ticket of any of di two leading parties – for dis two-party system wia many young pipo feel say e gat to end at some point.