The Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana) has called for sweeping reforms to Ghana’s political financing system, including the creation of an independent authority with powers to monitor campaign spending, investigate violations and sanction political actors.
The Centre says the current framework leaves significant gaps in the regulation of candidates and election campaigns, creating conditions that encourage the growing influence of money in Ghanaian politics.
Joseph Oti Frimpong, Programmes Officer at CDD-Ghana, said the absence of comprehensive controls over campaign financing had contributed to high election costs, vote-buying, inadequate disclosure of funding sources and the misuse of state resources.
He was speaking at a media workshop on regulating political party financing in Ghana, organised by CDD-Ghana in Kumasi with funding from the British High Commission.
Mr Oti Frimpong presented CDD-Ghana’s draft model law on political finance alongside the Government’s position paper on recommendations made by the Constitution Review Commission (CRC) on reducing the influence of money in politics.
Under the proposed CDD-Ghana framework, an Independent Electoral Financing and Enforcement Authority (IEFEA) would be established to take responsibility for political finance monitoring, enforcement, auditing and public disclosure.
The proposed authority would have broad enforcement powers, including the ability to issue regulations, conduct investigations and forensic audits, subpoena witnesses, impose fines and other sanctions, and refer suspected criminal cases for prosecution.
CDD-Ghana also proposes that all campaign-related financial transactions should pass through designated campaign bank accounts. Such accounts would be subject to periodic and forensic audits to enable regulators and the public to track campaign funding and expenditure.
The proposed law would further empower the authority to establish spending limits for party primaries, by-elections and general elections. The limits would take into consideration factors such as population, geographical size, infrastructure and the nature of each election.
Candidates would also be required to submit detailed reports on campaign receipts and expenditure, with the reports published online to allow citizens and other stakeholders to scrutinise how political campaigns are financed.
The framework seeks to tighten controls on campaign contributions by setting limits, restricting anonymous donations above a specified threshold and improving transparency around spending by third parties.
Mr Oti Frimpong identified the monetisation of politics, vote-buying, unregulated financing of candidates and abuse of state resources as major weaknesses requiring urgent attention.
The proposals come against the backdrop of similar recommendations by the CRC, which called for an Independent Registrar and Regulator of Political Parties and Campaigns (IRRPC) to register and regulate political parties, impose sanctions and address practices such as vote-buying.
The CRC also recommended restrictions on campaign periods, regulation of campaign receipts and expenditure, external audits of party and candidate funding, and sanctions for the abuse of incumbency.
The Government has accepted in principle the need for an independent regulatory institution but has proposed a Political Parties Regulatory Commission (PPRC) to be created through ordinary legislation, rather than the constitutionally entrenched IRRPC recommended by the CRC.
It has also acknowledged the need for specific legislation governing campaign finance, including expenditure limits, disclosure thresholds and enforcement mechanisms.
Mr Oti Frimpong said the convergence of the various proposals presented an opportunity for Ghana to strengthen its democratic institutions and close longstanding loopholes in political financing.
He said a more transparent and enforceable system would help promote fairness, accountability and public confidence in elections while reducing the extent to which financial resources determine political participation and electoral outcomes.
