Six political parties fail to submit accounts

Six out of the seven political parties in the country have contravened the Political Parties Law by their failure to submit audited accounts of their income and expenditure to the Electoral Commission (EC) 12 months after the last general election.

The parties have also failed to furnish the EC with audited accounts of their assets and liabilities as required by law.

The six are the National Democratic Congress (NDC), the Peoples National Convention (PNC), the Convention People's Party (CPP), the National Reform Party (NRP), the Egle Party and the Democratic People's Party (DPP).

Records at the EC reveal that out of the seven parties, only the New Patriotic Party (NPP) has furnished the EC with up-to-date records on its income and expenditure and assets and liabilities, while some of the parties have submitted audited accounts up to 2003 and others nothing at all.

Section 14 of the Political Act (Act 574) states that “ A political party shall within six months after a general election or by-election in which it has participated, submit to the EC a detailed statement in such form as the Commission may direct of all expenditure incurred for that elections.”

The Act also states that “ Without prejudice to any other penalty provided in the act or any other enactment where the political parties refuses or neglects to comply with the section, or submits a statement which is false in any material in particular, the EC may cancel the registration of the political party,”

The records at the EC further show that the largest opposition party, NDC, has submitted audited accounts of its income and expenditure up to December 2003.

The NDC has also submitted a statement of its assets and liabilities for 2004 but failed to submit audited accounts on its income and expenditure for the same period.

The CPP has also submitted to the EC a statement of accounts up to 2003 but failed to submit its accounts for 2004.

The CPP has however not provided the EC with any information on its assets and liabilities.

The worst among the offending parties according to the EC documents are the Egle party and the National Reform Party, both of which have since their incorporation as political parties not submitted any accounts to the EC.

There are absolutely no records at the EC on Dr Charles Wereko Brobbey's United Ghana Movement (UGM).

A deputy chairman in charge of Finance and Administration, David Kanga said the Commission is yet to be updated with the status of political parties in the country, after the party offices were visited by a team from the EC in 2004.

He said an appraisal of the status report; the EC would consider the next line of action to take on the accounts of the political parties.

Mr Kanga could not immediately state the sanctions that would be applied against political parties, which had failed to submit their accounts to the EC as mandated by law.