The Center for Democratic Development (CDD) in Ghana has expressed concern about the current state of campaign and party financing, pointing out the corrupting effect of money in politics.

In a statement, the CDD called for immediate reforms to counter the rising costs of political campaigns and the resulting massive corruption within the government.

To address these problems, the CDD called on presidential candidates and political parties to commit to decisive reforms in their electoral manifestos to reduce the financial burden on politics and fight corruption at its roots.

The CDD stressed the need for comprehensive new laws and a robust regulatory framework to regulate campaign and party financing.

Specifically, the CDD proposed that this new framework should set clear guidelines for donations and spending, ensuring transparency and accountability.

“Reducing the cost of politics and curbing corruption at its source is critical. The increasing monetisation and rising cost of politics are corrupting the electoral process and fuelling pervasive grand corruption in government.

“The current system of campaign and party financing is completely inadequate. There is an urgent need for new, comprehensive legislation to regulate this sector. This new regulation must set clear parameters for party and campaign donations and spending, introduce an official campaign period of three to six months, standardise and regulate internal election processes and financing, and create an enforcement body for the new rules.

“A comprehensive law on party and campaign financing must be passed that sets out clear rules to limit donations and expenditure for both internal and external party processes.”

In addition, the CDD called for the speedy adoption of the Conduct of Public Officials Act (COPO), the implementation of which has been stalled for over a decade.

This bill aims to close legal loopholes in the public sector and promote transparency and accountability.

“One of the main reasons for corruption in the public sector is the numerous opportunities for corrupt officials and their collaborators to exploit weak internal controls in the civil service to divert public funds.

“Numerous ethical prohibitions such as influence peddling, conflict of interest and nepotism have not been adequately codified. The passage of the long overdue Code of Conduct for Public Officials (COPO) will help close this legal loophole that is exploited daily by public officials to evade their responsibilities.

“However, the bill in its current form needs significant improvements, particularly in strengthening the asset disclosure provisions and introducing new rules on undeclared wealth.”

Source: Adomonline