I can't raise 'ludicrous' GHS420K fee; it's 'unreasonable, unfair, unethical' – Sly

A flag bearer-aspirant of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Sylvester Mensah, has said he cannot raise the GHS420,000 nomination and filing fee demanded of those aspiring to that position of the biggest opposition party in Ghana.

“No. I can’t raise that money”, Mr Mensah told Osei Bonsu, host of Accra-based Asempa FM’s Ekosii sen political talk show on Monday, 3 December 2018 when asked directly if somebody of his caliber cannot raise that amount.

“It’s not possible to raise that money as a public officer, and the number of years I have worked, I wouldn’t be able to raise that amount of money”, the former CEO of the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) said.

“It is not proper”, he said, describing the GHS420,000 filing and nomination fee as “unreasonable, unfair and unethical”.

“It creates the impression of corrupt people”, he said.

“But you see”, Mr Mensah noted: “That is not the issue. The issue is this: that if you are going for primaries, it is not the responsibility of those who would lead the party, it is not their responsibility to fund the primaries, that’s the fundamental error in that price. That is number one. Number two:

The collective ownership of our party and the party has the primary responsibility of generating and raising funds for its activities, for its congresses, for its elections. It is improper, it is unethical, it is not done anywhere in the world. There’s no best practice in the world that alludes to this method”.

He said it was based on a matter of principle that he finds the GHS420,000 “ludicrous”.