National Chairman of the NDC, Johnson Asiedu Nketia, has warned against proposals for political parties to officially sponsor candidates in elections for Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs).
He describes such a move as dangerous and counterproductive.
Speaking on JoyNews’ PM Express on Wednesday, June 25, Asiedu Nketia said that while political actors will naturally support individuals aligned with their ideology, sponsoring candidates formally as a party would erode the neutrality expected in local governance and deepen partisanship at the community level.
“People are contesting on their own merit, even though they may be party people. That is what we know happens now,” he said.
“If I go to contest in an electoral area, everybody knows that I’m the National Chairman of NDC. So if I win, NDC will claim to have won — but I’m not being sponsored by the NDC.”
He insisted that forcing parties to sponsor candidates would come with costs and dangerous implications.
“If you say NDC should sponsor, it comes with a cost. It comes with many other implications,” he said.
[embedded content]“In the course of doing my work, I will have to satisfy my partisan constituency instead of the whole community — and that comes with consequences.”
He argued that non-partisan elections allow candidates to focus on serving their communities, rather than appeasing party interests.
Asiedu Nketia acknowledged that political parties will always have a stake in who wins, but maintained that wishing for a like-minded candidate to win is not the same as funding and owning the process.
“Parties will wish candidates aligned to their cause will win, and so on. It is not the same thing as a party sponsoring the candidate.”
His comments come amid renewed debate over whether Ghana should hold partisan or non-partisan elections for local government heads.
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