NPP parliamentary aspirants to pay party development fee of GH¢ 10,000

January 24, 2011 Accra , Jan. 24, GNA - The New Patriotic Party (NPP) on Monday imposed a levy of GH¢ 10,000 on all aspiring parliamentary candidates contesting a Constituency with a sitting party parliamentarian.

The levy tagged as National Party Development Fee forms part of NPP Parliamentary Primary Filling Fees Rules and Regulations as directed by the General Secretary, Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie, in a statement to the Ghana News Agency in Accra.

Nominations will open on Monday, February 28 to Sunday, March 6 with the parliamentary primaries nationwide scheduled for Saturday, April 30.

Other fees include non-refundable fee of GH¢ 1,000 for nomination forms and additional non-refundable fee of GH¢ 2,000 for certification and endorsement at the Regional Office of the party.

The Regional Secretary shall upon receipt of the fee endorse the nomination forms of the aspirant and issue him/her a letter permitting him/her to proceed for assessment by the National Executive Committee.

According to the statement, aspirants wishing to contest on the party's ticket shall satisfy in addition some criteria.

These include ensuring that the aspirant meets the requirements of qualification and eligibility set out in Article 94 of the 1992 Constitution and Articles 3, 11 and 17 of the Party's Constitution of 2009.

"An aspirant shall satisfy both the Regional Executive Committee and National Executive Committee before filling his/her nomination with the Constituency Executive Committee.

"This shall constitute the pre-qualification process. The Regional Executive Committee and National Executive Committee shall issue a notice of an aspirant's eligibility and endorse the aspirant's nomination forms in the desired Constituency," the statement stated.

An aspirant after satisfying the pre-qualification process shall then proceed to file his/her nomination with the Constituency Executive Committee.

"There shall be an Elections Committee and a Vetting Committee in all affected constituencies. After the vetting process, there shall be publication of the aspirants' eligibility for the primaries.

"The General Secretary of the Party shall endorse forms of an eligible aspirant and issue him/her with a letter permitting him/her to file his/her nomination forms in the desired Constituency and pay a filling fee of GH¢3,000 to begin the electoral process," the statement noted.

To encourage more women to aspire to high political office, women aspiring parliamentary candidates would enjoy a rebate of 50 per cent of the fees.

GNA