NDP mounts defence of failure to file returns
The flag bearer of the National Democratic Party (NDP) in the 2016 election, Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings, has mounted a feisty defence to news of her party’s failure to file returns in accordance with electoral laws.
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She said it was ludicrous for parties to file returns even within the six-month period stipulated by law, particularly after elections when political activity was less.
“Nobody does that! You file accounts yearly!” she stated.
“We will do that,” she said, and added that “it is just a matter of presenting whatever we have done in the past quarter although we have not engaged in any activities after the election that necessitated us to engage in fundraising.”
She said the NDP had records of all its activities strenuously kept, hence it was easy for the party to report on its returns.
She added that her party had filed its returns up to November 2016.
When queried on whether small parties ought to be banned because they lacked the capacity to operate effectively as viable political parties, Mrs Agyeman-Rawlings responded:
“Of course not! How else would we have democracy? Democratic systems must be open and all embracing.”
She said small parties encouraged democratic dispensations, particularly when small parties were allowed to grow.
In a publication of the Daily Graphic in the Wednesday, June 14, 2017 issue, the Electoral Commission (EC) said political parties were flouting Section 14 (2) of the Political Parties Law 2000, Act 574 that mandated parties to submit a statement of all expenditure incurred in the election.
The article said Section 14 (1) of the law mandated political parties to submit to the commission a statement of their assets and liabilities within 21 days before a general election. However, few parties, including the NDP, had fulfilled that.
