The Price Tag on Leadership: Has the NDC Priced the Grassroots Out of Its Own Party?

A few weeks ago, I walked into one of the constituency offices to observe what was happening following the opening of nomination forms for the constituency executive elections. I met a young branch youth organizer. He had served the party since 2016 — sleeping in classrooms on campaign days, using his own motorbike for errands. He looked at the filing fee on the wall, quietly folded his form, and left. He could not afford it.

That moment has haunted me.

How does a social democratic party, whose very soul is the ordinary person, peg its filing fees at an exorbitant amount that scares the grassroots — those who stood in the trenches — from presenting themselves to lead?

We must have an honest conversation.

Then came the regional filing fees, which were staggeringly pegged at GH¢5,000.

I understand the argument of the party hierarchy. Running a party is expensive. We do not receive state subvention. Regional and national conferences cost millions of cedis. Filing fees are an internally generated fund. They also sieve out jokers.

All true. But at what cost?

When we put a price tag of several thousand cedis on a regional executive position, we unconsciously create two NDCs: the NDC of those who can pay to lead, and the NDC of those who can only pay with their sweat to follow. This contradicts the very social democratic principles we preach to Ghanaians.

The danger is deeper than exclusion. It is about sustainability.

When a candidate borrows GH¢50,000 to file and GH¢100,000 to campaign to delegates, what is his first instinct when he wins? To recoup. The office becomes an investment, not a service. Monetized internal elections breed monetized governance. We cannot condemn vote‑buying in national elections while auctioning our own internal offices.

Our founding father, Flt. Lt. Jerry John Rawlings of blessed memory, built this party on probity, accountability, and social justice. He would not have recognized a party where money speaks louder than loyalty.

I am not writing this because I cannot pay. I am writing this because I can still hear the silence of that young man or woman from Chereponi, Yunyoo, Bunkpurugu, or Yagaba who has everything it takes to lead but, because of the staggering filing fees, is barred from contesting.

What should we do?

1. A tiered and capped system:
Filing fees should reflect the level of the office and the economic reality of the region. A flat, exorbitant fee across the board is punitive.

2. A Grassroots Support Fund:
The party should institute a fund through which branches can sponsor competent but less‑endowed comrades who have served.

3. Sweat Equity Clause:
Let five years of verifiable branch service count for something. Let loyalty be a currency.

My campaign is built on three words: Competence, Diligence, Loyalty. If we want competence, we must not scare it away with cash. If we want diligence, we must reward those who worked in opposition when there was nothing to share. If we want loyalty, we must not put loyalty up for sale.

I am contesting for Deputy Regional Secretary for North East not because I am the richest, but because I believe I am prepared. I have served. I have learned. I have remained.

So on the day of voting, I ask you:

Vote Yentik Gariba,
Vote Credibility,
Vote Inclusiveness,
Vote Competence,
Vote True Leadership,
Vote Loyalty,
Vote Victory,

But Vote Against Monetised Politics.

Vote for your future. Vote for party sustenance.

Yentik Gariba is a member of the NDC and a Deputy Regional Secretary Hopeful for the North East Region. #VoteAgainstMonetisedPolitics