The Gender Centre for Empowering Development (GenCED) has called on the New Patriotic Party (NPP) to extend its decision to reduce nomination fees for women, youth and persons with disabilities (PWDs) to all national executive positions of the party.
GenCED welcomed the NPP’s decision to set the nomination fee at GH¢8,000 for candidates contesting the positions of Nasara, Women’s and Youth Organisers, describing it as an important recognition that the cost of political participation can create unequal barriers to leadership.
However, the organisation said the concession should go further, calling for a minimum 50 percent reduction for women, youth and PWDs seeking all national executive positions.
Under the announced fee structure, candidates contesting the position of National Chairperson will pay GH¢50,000, while the Vice Chairperson and General Secretary positions attract fees of GH¢30,000 and GH¢25,000, respectively. Other principal positions attract a fee of GH¢10,000.
Cost of politics remains a barrier
GenCED argued that nomination fees are only the beginning of the financial burden associated with political competition.
According to the organisation, aspirants must also finance campaigns, delegate engagement, transportation, mobilisation and communications. These costs, it said, can make political leadership more accessible to individuals with significant financial resources rather than those with the competence, commitment and support to lead.
The organisation’s position is contained in its research titled “The Price to Participate: How Money in Politics Undermines Women and Youth Political Participation in Ghana.”
GenCED said women face particular financial challenges in political participation because they generally have less access to political financing and established political networks.
Affirmative Action must address financial barriers
GenCED also linked its call to Ghana’s Affirmative Action (Gender Equity) Act, 2024 (Act 1121), which provides a framework for addressing systemic barriers to women’s participation in political decision-making.
The Act sets a minimum target of 30 percent representation of women by 2026, while requiring political parties to create gender-sensitive organisational cultures that promote gender equity and address systemic barriers to women’s participation in decision-making.
GenCED therefore argues that reducing nomination fees would be a practical way of translating the principles of affirmative action into internal party reforms.
‘Positive step, but not enough’
While acknowledging the GH¢8,000 concession as a positive development, GenCED said the policy should not be limited to organiser positions.
It wants women, youth and PWDs seeking positions such as National Chairperson, Vice Chairperson, General Secretary, Treasurer, Organiser and other national executive offices to receive similar consideration.
The organisation said a uniform nomination fee may appear neutral, but could have unequal consequences in an environment where some groups have less access to political financing and established support networks.
Six-point call to the NPP
GenCED is asking the NPP to:
- Provide at least a 50% reduction in nomination fees for women, youth and PWDs contesting all national executive positions.
- Institutionalise the reduction as an affirmative-action measure within the party’s electoral framework.
- Apply the concession consistently across leadership positions.
- Publish clear eligibility criteria and procedures for accessing the concession.
- Align the party’s electoral processes with the objectives of Act 1121.
- Develop broader financial and institutional support mechanisms for women, youth and PWDs seeking leadership positions.
From the price to participate to the right to lead
GenCED says Ghana’s next challenge following the enactment of the Affirmative Action Act is implementation.
The organisation argues that political parties remain key gatekeepers to political leadership and that the success of affirmative action will depend substantially on whether parties reform the rules, structures and financial practices that determine who gets to participate and lead.
GenCED’s central message is clear: affirmative action must begin at the point of entry into political contests—including the cost of nomination. It says inclusive leadership cannot be achieved if the financial architecture of political contests continues to exclude women, youth and persons with disabilities.
