Amoafo-Yeboah First To Pick Nomination Forms

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An independent presidential aspirant, Mr Kwesi Amoafo-Yeboah, as part of his commitment to contest the forthcoming elections has become the first to pick presidential nomination forms at the Electoral Commission.

Mr Amoafo-Yeboah who picked the forms last Thursday afternoon, told the Daily Graphic yesterday that “there is nothing onerous about the forms; we have been prepared for this for a long time and now is the time to get the party machinery rolling”.

Already, he said, they had finished with the Greater Accra and Ashanti regional endorsements, and were moving to the Brong Ahafo Region today.

He is expected to be endorsed by two registered voters from each of the districts.

Hopefully, he said, by October 7 “we would have gone around the whole country and completed filling the forms to enable us to file our formal candidature with the EC on either October 16 or 17 as stipulated by the commission.”

All candidates contesting the presidential and parliamentary elections in December are mandated to sign a statutory declaration affirming their qualification to stand for and be elected for the slot being contested.

The statutory declaration is to be made before and certified by either a judge, a judicial officer, notary public, commissioner of oaths, or any person authorised by law to administer an oath.

Any person designated as vice-president for the election is also mandated to sign the statutory declaration, which forms part of requirements of the Election 2008 Nomination Form.

The EC on Friday launched another phase of the electoral process by making nomination forms available for prospective candidates who wish to contest the presidential or parliamentary elections.

Presidential nomination forms are available at the EC headquarters in Accra whilst parliamentary nomination forms are available at the constituency and district offices of the EC.

The 92-page Presidential Nomination Form is divided into four parts. Part one deals with the candidate's name, age, Voter ID Card number, Polling Station name and code, current residential address, occupation and particulars of two registered voters resident in the area of authority of each district assembly.

Part Two focuses on the Vice Presidential candidate; Part Three is statutory declaration; and Part Four is on the candidate's personal record, including date and place of birth, home town, region, highest educational qualification, institution, year completed, present or last employer, position, profession, marital status and spouse.

The completed nomination forms for the presidential and parliamentary elections would be received between October 16 and 17 between 9.00 am and 12.00 noon and 2.00 pm and 5.00 pm daily.

Nominations for the presidential candidate will be received at the EC headquarters in Accra whilst the parliamentary forms will be received at the constituency and district offices.

The filing fees for the presidential and parliamentary elections are GH¢5,000 and GH¢500 respectively.

According to Mr Amoafo-Yeboah, his advice to any aspiring independent presidential candidate was “preparation, preparation and nothing short of preparation.”

He said if he had not prepared adequately and anticipated what the EC would require, he obviously would have been struggling to complete the forms.

On complaints by some political parties that the EC's approved filing fees for nomination was too high, he said the complaints had no basis.

“If they genuinely feel the amount is too high then I will attribute their concern to poor planning on their part,” he indicated.

He said without registering with the EC all their campaigns, giant billboards and paid for television documentaries and other commercials would mean absolutely nothing.

That was the view my campaign team took by concentrating on getting my name on the ballot paper to enable me to contest in the forthcoming presidential election, he said.

In any case, he explained, it was not the amount that mattered but how to organise and win a certain voter percentage because the EC had made it clear that if one attained a certain threshold the filing fee would be refunded.

“I obviously don't see their point of concern if they are serious and are contesting the election to make an impact,” he stressed.