Asante Akyem North Member of Parliament, Ohene Kwame Frimpong, has initiated a private member’s bill to amend the Political Parties Act, 2000 (Act 574) to introduce campaign financing regime in Ghana’s politics.
The Political Parties Act, 2000 (Act 574) regulates the registration and functioning of political parties but remains silent on campaign financing.
According to the lawmaker, the rising cost of politics poses a serious threat to the country’s democracy, the reason Ghana needs to introduce a campaign financing regime to avert the situation.
He explains that although Ghana has had nine successful elections with four peaceful transfers of power since the reintroduction of multiparty democracy in 1992, the rising cost of politics, if not checked, will destroy everything the nation has built as far as democracy is concerned.
In a statement issued to the media on Tuesday, February 10, 2026, the MP explained that political competition is largely influenced by financial strength rather than competence, due to the Act’s failure to provide any “legal framework limiting campaign expenditure, capping contributions, or mandating detailed disclosures.”
He buttressed his assertion with a Ghana Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana) report in 2025 which estimates that the cost of contesting presidential elections in Ghana has risen to approximately US$200 million, while the cost of parliamentary campaigns rose by 59% between 2012 and 2016, according to a 2018 STAR-Ghana Foundation report.
This, he noted, is due to the heavily reliance of political campaigns on “private, informal, and often opaque sources of funding.”
In view of this, the legislator explained that the Bill seeks to limit private contributions on political campaigning in the country, develop a public funding mechanism to provide a level playing field for participants, place a cap on expenditure and require political parties to disclose the source of same, and also provide independent oversight and enforcement.
Find below the full statement issued by the MP on Tuesday.
My victory in Asante Akyem North was driven by my years of philanthropy – Ohene Frimpong
