National Chairman of the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC), Johnson Asiedu Nketia has called on the State to fund political parties' internal presidential primaries under the “one-member one-vote” system, arguing that the cost of such elections is enormous.

Speaking in an interview with Joy News' Evans Mensah, Asiedu Nketia, who is also seeking the NDC's presidential nomination as widely circulated, said the expansion of the electoral college from delegates to the entire party membership would significantly increase the cost of organising primaries.

He said the delegates system required "about less than 400,000 but with this one-man one-vote [system], you're in excess of one million to two million ballot papers".

Recalling the NDC's internal elections in 2014, he said the party established polling stations across the country to make voting accessible.

"And we had 6000 plus electoral areas at that time – there are certain electoral areas that are made up of clusters of villages. In that case, you'd have more in those villages so you don't ask people to travel. So we ended up opening more than 8,000 polling stations."

According to him, the Electoral Commission (EC) treated the exercise as a private election, leaving the party to bear the full cost.

"Electoral Commission took the view that this was a private election whose cost must be borne exclusively by the party."

He added that the party had to pay polling officials recruited by the EC as well as the cost of election materials.

"We had to pay them, and the cost of the materials, everything. Electoral Commission didn't contribute one cedi. In the end, in those days, we spent close to GHS14 million in 2014. This time, it's going to be more."

Asiedu Nketia asserted that the State should finance such elections stressing political parties are required to facilitate citizens' democratic participation.

"My expectation is that even though the system is good, since we're being compelled to help citizens exercise their civic and democratic rights, it sits very well to ask the state to budget for this exercise so the Electoral Commission can conduct it free of charge. It will help every political party."

Addressing concerns that public funding could encourage the formation of numerous political parties, he reiterated the NDC's proposal for an independent regulator.

"That is why in NDC, we have proposed the setting up of an office for the regulation of political parties."

He said such a body would ensure only parties that meet constitutional and legal requirements qualify for certification and any associated electoral support.

"You need to organise that group in more than two-thirds of the districts in the country. They must have offices, and so on. So, there'll be just a few parties that will be certified. And then you can provide that [electoral funding] facility to those parties that are certified. If that is done, it'll improve our democracy a lot."

Furthermore on the Supreme Court's recent ruling requiring political parties to adopt a “one-member one-vote” system for selecting presidential and parliamentary candidates, Asiedu Nketia said the NDC has no difficulty with the decision.

He also pointed out that the constitution of Ghana frowns on the retrospective application of new laws, adding that the NPP should not be affected by the ruling because it had already elected its presidential candidate in January.