The Ghana Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana), in collaboration with the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), has held a regional forum on the Draft Model Bill on Political Financing in Ghana, in Wa, Upper West Region.
The forum, held on Wednesday, February 25, 2026, aimed to promote public understanding of the proposed legislation and solicit the feedback of citizens to enhance the draft bill.
The Draft Model Political Financing Bill, developed by the CDD-Ghana, aims to address the growing influence of money in the electoral and political processes of Ghana.
Speaking at the opening of the forum, Upper West Regional Director of the NCCE, Mr John Yibile said good governance was not about the provision of jobs and social amenities but how participatory, transparent, inclusive and accountable the process was.
He said the founding fathers of Ghana were propelled by nationalism, patriotism and civic-mindedness to overcome colonialism and attain a republic, urging that the current generation has a “legacy to uphold, to measure up to, and the promise of future generations to meet” of which proper legislation was a part.
He observed that Ghana was good at lawmaking but poor at implementation and enforcement, calling on stakeholders at the forum to contribute to the enforcement of the law after its promulgation and assent.
Assistant Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist with CDD-Ghana, Mr. Jacob Tetteh Ahuno said regulating campaign financing had become more important than ever to promote public good and prevent “democracy capture”, a phenomenon where government is controlled by a wealthy few.
He said the unregulated and overly monetized political and electoral processes have “dire implications on citizens: the roads, the schools, the shoddy works that we see, procurement systems being dominated by sole-sourcing, are all things that we can link to campaign financiers, and so we need to curb that in order to prevent state capture.
“We believe if we don’t manage our campaign finance system, we’re heading towards a state capture, where campaign financiers get to dictate what the state in terms of policies and initiatives are going to be, [and] it’s going to inure to their [campaign financiers] benefit, not the public.”
Mr. William Nyarko, Consultant for CDD-Ghana on Political Campaign Finance, said the proposed legislation comes to address campaign financing gaps within Ghana’s electoral and political processes, which tend to undermine electoral integrity and representation of the will of Ghanaians.
He indicated some gaps as no law regulating candidate funding and financing, no defined campaigning period, and no law on abuse of incumbency in reference to elections, among others.
Mr. Nyarko, also Executive Director of African Centre for International Law and Accountability (ACILA), said political parties and candidates are indispensable to the principles and practice of democracy, and therefore, their operations, including funding and financing, must fall well within the regulations and tents of democracy.
“And so, whatever happens when they are in public office is as important as how they get into public office,” he said.
The forum in Wa was among 10 regional fora which the CDD-Ghana was organizing across the country between February 23 and March 13, 2026 with support from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) of the British Government.
The forum brought together stakeholders from diverse backgrounds including civil society organizations, traditional authorities, academia, youth and women’s groups, persons with disabilities, and political parties, among others.
