Without money, you are technically knock-out in the race: Analyzing the role of money in parliamentary primaries in Ghana

Abstract

Financial resources – comprising money and other material support – are significant determinants in the prosecution of successful electoral campaigns, especially during intra-party candidate selection in Ghana. Delegates in political parties, largely, vote for candidates who can pay their way out; hence, the financially disadvantaged candidates are technically excluded from the race. The article examines this phenomenon which is incrementally making parliamentary primaries in Ghana the preserve of the rich. Empirical evidence from primary data gathered through interviews and focus group discussions as well as secondary data from published works was analyzed from a rational choice theory perspective. The article found that money does not only serve as a measure of a candidate’s success in the two leading political parties in Ghana – the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and New Patriotic Party (NPP) – but also a predictor of their future performance and an exclusionary barrier to the poor. It recommends strong legislation to regulate the funding of parliamentary primaries in Ghana. One of the first essential steps should be limiting the high amount of nomination forms and filing fees charged at the political party level.