High fees charged by political parties for their aspirants will turn the offices into a contest of the rich, with dire consequences for governance and accountability.

The high fees makes democracy appear to be the preserve of the highest bidder, three governance and political scientists have said.

They argued that the financial impositions could undermine the authority of party executive to hold eventual winners accountable should they be elected into office.

The experts were speaking in separate interviews on the GH¢4 million development fee in addition to GH¢100,000 for nomination and GH¢500,000 for filing fixed by the National Council of the New Patriotic Party (NPP).

The interviewees were the Project Director, Democracy Project, Dr John Osae-Kwapong; the head of the Department of Political Science, University for Development Studies, Dr Gbensuglo Alidu Bukari, and a political scientist, Dr Samuel Kofi Darkwa. 

Administrative cost

Dr Osae-Kwapong said that political parties disagreed with critics who sounded the alarm bells about the high filing fees to participate in their presidential primaries, and often argued that the fees paid by aspirants were needed to cover the administrative costs of the party and the election.

He, however, said that this position essentially reduced the race to a contest between the haves and have-nots.

Dr Osae-Kwapong said the high fees created a democracy where money had undue influence in political and policy decisions.

He said membership dues were one way to raise money to make parties self-financing.

Dr Osae-Kwapong, therefore, urged the parties to encourage their sympathisers to register as members and set realistic membership dues that everyone could pay, regardless of socioeconomic background.

He said the parties must also find inventive ways of fundraising, such as dinners, appeal for donations, and engagement in corporate fundraising drives with a limit on how much companies were allowed to donate so as not to become excessively influential in the hallways and corridors of power.

Equal access

Throwing more light on the subject, Dr Bukari stated that for the election process to function effectively, participation must not be dictated primarily by money or restrictive structures that limit equal access.

“At the heart of any democracy lies the electoral process, which allows individuals to influence political outcomes, select their leaders, and express their collective aspirations,” he added.

Dr Bukari said although the country’s political party laws allowed parties to set their own rules, imposing such high fees conflicted with the spirit of Article 55 of the 1992 Constitution, which guarantees citizens the right to political participation without unreasonable barriers.

“Thus, while technically defensible under party regulations, these requirements raise serious constitutional and democratic concerns.

We need, as a country, to adopt more inclusive political parties' funding mechanisms so that parties like the NPP, NDC, and others can strengthen political and economic accountability and safeguard the nation’s democratic consolidation,” he said

He further said that political dynamics could foster a political transactional culture where leaders resist internal scrutiny, justify unilateral decision-making and use patronage to consolidate their positions.

Dr Bukari said the high financial thresholds systematically exclude women, youth and aspirants from modest socio-economic backgrounds, thereby narrowing representation.

“Over-monetisation of politics also incentivises leaders to focus on wealth accumulation to recover their campaign investments, often through corrupt practices, rent-seeking or patronage,” he said.

On funding, Dr Bukari called on political parties to consider alternative financing models such as expanding grassroots membership dues, mobilising voluntary donations from supporters both domestically and abroad, and selling party-branded merchandise, to avoid those dangers. 

Setting fees

For his part, Dr Darkwa said that by setting fees far beyond the reach of many, parties effectively exclude young people, women and capable men without vast wealth.

“A leader who has heavily financed the party risks becoming untouchable.

Parties could then cease to function as inclusive platforms and instead become dominated by a small elite who dictate outcomes.

“This narrows the field of competition to the wealthy or those backed by powerful financiers,” he added.

Dr Darkwa said the implications for governance were serious, as candidates who spent millions of cedis to secure a party ticket might see political office as an investment to be recouped.

He said that it encouraged inflated contracts, patronage, and the misuse of public resources. He cited President John Dramani Mahama, who recently questioned why state projects cost far more than private ones.

“The link between inflated public contracts and the need to finance expensive politics is impossible to ignore. If leadership is bought at such high prices, corruption becomes almost inevitable,” Dr Darkwa said.

He further said fact that non-payment of such fees could disqualify aspirants was more troubling, stressing that “this approach contradicts the very spirit of democracy, which should expand access to leadership, not restrict it.”