The National Democratic Congress (NDC) on Thursday announced that a GHC 400,000 non-refundable filing fee will be paid by its presidential aspirants contesting the January 19, primaries.
Female contestants will, however, pay GHC 200,000 while People With Disabilities (PWDs) contestants will pay an amount of GHC 150,000, the General Secretary Johnson Asiedu-Nketia has said.
Briefing the media on the “Road map for NDC Presidential Primaries” in Accra, he said payment of the filing fees will be made by banker’s draft.
Mr. Asiedu-Nketia said the election of the presidential candidate would be held on January 19, 2019 at all the 275 constituency centres -voting centres for the elections.
However, he said, the national headquarters will also constitute an additional voting centre for all delegates from external branches.
So far eleven people have officially declared their intent to contest the primaries. They include former President John Dramani Mahama; Alban Sumana Bagbin, the Second Deputy Speaker of Parliament; Ekwow Spio Gabbah, a former Finance Minister; Kweku Ricketts-Hagan, a former Deputy Finance Minister; Prof. Joshua Alabi the former Vice Chancellor of the University of Professional Studies, Accra.
The rest are Sylvester Mensah, a former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the National Health Insurance Authority, Kojo Bonsu, a former Metropolitan Chief Executive of Kumasi, Nurudeen Iddrisu, Stephen Atubiga, Goosie Tanoh and Elikplim Lorlormarvor Agbemava.
Mr. Asiedu-Nketia said the Party has set aside December 3 and 4, for aspirants to pick their forms and file them between December 13 and 14 respectively.
There will be vetting of the aspirants by a seven-member vetting committee on December 17 and 18 while balloting for the aspirants will also be done on December 18, 2018.
Mr. Asiedu Nketia said December 18 to 21 has also been set aside for appeals, adding that, “A contestant who is dissatisfied with the decision of the Vetting Committee shall have the right of appeal in writing to the Appeals Committee set up by NEC within 3 days.
“The Appeals Committee shall be constituted by five persons made up as follows – a member from the Council of Elders, a former NEC member, a member of the legal committee from the immediate past legal committee, a woman nominated by NEC, and a representative from Minority Caucus in Parliament,” he said.
“The decision of the Appeals Committee shall be made within three days and shall be final.”
On elections, the Secretary General said, “If at the close of nomination, only one person files nomination as the party’s presidential candidate, that person shall be subject to a vote out of which the person must obtain more than 50 per cent of the valid votes cast”.
“Where two persons file their nominations, the person who receives the greater number of votes shall be declared elected as the party’s presidential candidate. Where the votes are equal at any ballot between the two leading candidates, another ballot shall be held”.
Mr. Asiedu-Nketia said: “At any ballot between more than two persons, the candidate who receives the greater number of votes shall be declared elected if that person receives a majority (50 per cent plus one) of the votes cast; but if no candidate receives this majority, the names of candidates who receive the least number of votes shall be withdrawn, this shall be followed by a run-off between the first two contestants and the contestant with a simple majority shall be declared the Party’s Presidential Candidate”.
“The run-off shall be repeated in the case of a tie between the two contestants until one of them obtains a simple majority. Where there is equality of votes between candidates who receive the smallest number of votes and one of them has to be excluded from the election under sub-clause (iv), there shall be a ballot to determine which of them should be excluded.”
He said those regulations were made in pursuant to articles 40 and 42 of the NDC Constitution and were designed to ensure the conduct of free, fair and transparent elections for the election of a presidential candidate.
The Electoral Commission will supervise the Presidential Primaries assisted by the Electoral Committee as provided for in Section 14 of the constitution and there will be no proxy voting.
Mr. Asiedu-Nketia urged all aspirants and their supporters to conduct their campaign in a civil manner devoid of mudslinging, political vilification, insults, acrimony and rancour.