Asiedu Nketia urges state to fund party primaries, citing GHC14m cost of NDC’s 2014 poll

National Democratic Congress (NDC) National Chairman, Johnson Asiedu Nketia, has called on the government to allocate public funds to help political parties conduct their internal one-member-one-vote primaries, arguing that the financial burden is too heavy for parties to bear alone.

Speaking on JoyNews’ PM Express on Monday, Asiedu Nketia revealed that the NDC spent nearly GH¢14 million during its 2014 internal elections under the expanded franchise system. He said the party established over 8,000 polling stations nationwide, covering electoral areas and clustered communities, and footed the entire bill for materials and allowances for Electoral Commission (EC) officials.

“The Electoral Commission didn’t contribute one cedi,” he stressed.

His appeal comes weeks after the Supreme Court directed all political parties to adopt a more inclusive candidate-selection system, giving them one year to comply. Asiedu Nketia argued that since the court is compelling parties to expand civic participation, the state should underwrite the exercise through the EC.

“I expect that since we are being compelled to help citizens exercise their democratic rights, it will serve well if the state budgets for this exercise and the EC conducts it free of charge,” he said. “That will be your biggest cost line. If they can conduct it free, it will help every party.”

He contrasted the expense with the old delegate system, which uses fewer than 400,000 ballot papers, against the one-member-one-vote model that requires between one million and two million ballots.

Addressing fears that state funding could spawn frivolous parties, Asiedu Nketia backed the creation of a dedicated office to regulate political parties—a proposal already in the government’s constitutional review position paper. He insisted such a body would certify only groups with structures in more than two-thirds of Ghana’s districts before they qualify for support.

“Once that is done, you have a body that will focus on making sure that before you certify a group as a political party, it satisfies all conditions,” he explained.

The NDC chairman reassured Ghanaians that his party can meet the Supreme Court’s timeline, citing its prior experience with the one-member-one-vote system in 2014. He reiterated that while the system is good for internal democracy, its sustainability hinges on state intervention to ease the heavy financial toll on parties.