National Chairman of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Johnson Asiedu Nketia has emphasised the ruling party's proposal to establish an independent body to regulate the formation and certification of political parties in Ghana.

Speaking in a One-on-One interview with JoyNews' Evans Mensah, Asiedu Nketia said the proposed office would ensure that only political parties that meet constitutional and legal requirements are certified.

He made the proposal while addressing concerns that public funding for internal party elections could lead to the proliferation of political parties.

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

According to him, the proposed body would focus exclusively on ensuring groups seeking recognition as political parties satisfy all the necessary conditions before being certified.

"Once that is done, then you have a body that will focus exclusively on making sure that before you certify a group as a political party, it satisfies all the conditions for a political party."

He said the requirements would include demonstrating a nationwide presence.

"You need to organise that group in more than two-thirds of the districts in the country. They must have offices, and so on."

Asiedu Nketia argued that limiting certification to parties that meet such standards would make it possible for the State to support qualifying political parties with the cost of conducting internal elections. 

"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."

The NDC Chairman made the remarks while discussing the financial implications of the Supreme Court's “one-member one-vote” ruling for political parties' presidential primaries.