Independent Presidential candidate, Jacob Osei Yeboah has admonished the Electoral Commission for increasing the filing fee for Presidential candidates to GHC100,000.
Speaking on the Morning Starr Tuesday, Mr Yeboah expressed displeasure over the new fee insisting even the United States, which has the world’s largest economy charges just $500 as filing fee.
He warned that the country is likely to have drug barons as president because they will be the only ones who can afford the increasing filing fees.
“I think that the issue with regards to nomination should not actually be on the filing fee. The United States with the biggest economy in the world, with the richest people, somebody like Donald Trump who was a billionaire in dollars, the filing fee is $500 an equivalent of about GH¢3000.”
“And if a country like Ghana with our shattered economy, you want a presidential filing fee and they are charging a hundred thousand which is about forty times that of the US, then we need to look at the spirit, the psychology behind this continual increase in the filing fee. I think that if we don’t take care we are destroying the spirit, the psychology and the good heart and the minds of someone to serve Ghana.”
Mr Yeboah went on ” in the US you pay $500 and you need 5,000 nominators that you can become president. Just to ensure that indeed you are touching base with all the states within the US, meaning that you are someone that the people believe in and that you will be able to serve the nation.
“That is what the leadership is about. It’s not about the political party that thinks they have amassed wealth for themselves and because of that no matter what. Other than that, if you don’t take care we are going to have a drug baron to become a president because we are dwelling our attention on monetary matters”.
Source: GhanaFeed.com
