“It is important that if the EC really means business, it cracks the whip or gives sanctions to those who have violated the law. If they had done this since a long while ago, political parties would have taken them seriously,” he told Emefa Apawu on Class FM’s 505 news programme on Tuesday May 31.
The governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP) were among 19 political parties that failed to meet the deadline.
The EC in April threatened to apply sanctions in accordance with the law if the parties failed to comply with the requirement of the Political Parties’ Law Act 574. The EC, among other things, requires political parties to submit audited accounts for the year. It also requires political parties to furnish it with details of the existence and location of their district offices.
Speaking to Class FM’s Paa Kwesi Parker-Wilson, the Director of Finance of the EC, Joseph Kwaku Asamoah, explained that the Commission would soon meet to take a decision on defaulters.
According to him, the Progressive People’s Party (PPP), Convention People’s Party (CPP), National Democratic Party (NDP), Democratic People’s Party (DPP), Great Consolidated Popular Party (GCPP), Independent People’s Party (IPP), and the United Front Party (UFP) were the parties who had met the obligations.
“We have about 26 political parties in our books and seven have been able to beat the deadline,” he stated.
From 2012, the NDC and NPP have failed to submit their financial statements and Mr Asamoah indicated that “there must be an end to the road somewhere”.
“We cannot sit down aloof. The Commission in its wisdom thinks we need to ensure compliance and the provisions of the law were not established yesterday. It has been in the statute books since 2000; there must be an end to the road,” he stated.
Source: Ghana/ClassFMonline.com/91.3fm
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