The Ghana Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana) has raised alarm over the escalating cost of contesting presidential elections, cautioning that the trend risks turning Ghana’s democracy into a playground for the wealthy elite.
Speaking at an Open Society forum in Accra, the Executive Director of CDD-Ghana, Professor H. Kwasi Prempeh, disclosed that it now takes an estimated $200 million to mount a successful presidential campaign in Ghana.
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“You now need about $200 million to win a presidential contest. How many of you can realistically be in that category? Even at the parliamentary and primary levels, the financial barriers are already too high for many,” Prof. Prempeh stated.
He warned that such prohibitive costs effectively shut out competent but less resourced leaders, leaving political power in the hands of the wealthy and well-connected. This, he argued, undermines both democratic inclusion and national development.
“We cannot sustain a democracy captured by money and still expect it to be developmental. Campaign financing reform and stricter regulation of internal party democracy must therefore be treated as urgent national priorities,” he stressed.