At a joint meeting at the PPRC Secretariat, on Friday 3rd August 2012, representatives of eight political parties condemned the Nomination Fees announced by the National Electoral Commission (NEC) last week. The parties are the Sierra Leone People’s Party, the People’s Movement for Democratic Change, the National Democratic Alliance, the United National People’s Party, the People’s Democratic Party, the Citizens’ Democratic Party, United Democratic Movement and the Peace and Liberation Party.
According to a joint press release, the parties refer to the new nomination fees as “unconscionable, exorbitant and bears no connection with the present deplorable state of our economy and the grinding poverty that is apparent throughout the country”.
They resolved that the 2007 nomination fees should stand and for the international community and civil society organizations to exert pressure on NEC to reconsider the new fees.
The release says that the statement by the Chairperson of NEC that the fees were in line with sub-regional trends, the parties say the new fees bear “no resemblance to international best practice”. They say nomination fees in the West African region are far less and gave them thus:
Ghana has nomination fee of Cedis 500 (US$ 300) for Parliamentary and Cedis 5,000 (US$ 3,000) for Presidential; in the Gambia the nomination fee for Presidential Candidates is Dalasi 10,000 (US$333) and Dalasi 500 (US$17) for Parliamentary, for Mayoral candidates and Chairmen of Local Councils, the Nomination Fee is Dalasi 3,500 (US$117) and for Councillors Dalasi 1,250 (US$ 42). In Liberia the Nomination Fee is US$ 2,500 for Presidential Candidates, US$1,500 for Vice Presidential Candidate, US$750 for Senators and US$500 for Members of the House of Representatives. In Nigeria the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) charges no Nomination Fee though an internal fee is levied by some political parties.
