Ghana Electoral Commission Has Finally Cancelled 17 Political Party Certificates

Finally, the 17 political parties whose registrations were violated because they lacked a regional or national presence had their certificates revoked by the Ghanaian Electoral Commission. Early in October, the EC served a notice on 17 political parties, giving them until Thursday, October 20, 2022, to provide justification for maintaining their registrations under the Political Parties Act of 2000, Act 574.

Related: 17 political parties in Ghana will no longer run for office

The notice was signed and issued by the Chairperson of the EC, Jean Mensa, and published on Monday, November 14, 2022.

ALSO CHECK: Jeff Bezos: Amazon founder pledges to give away most of his wealth

It stated: “Pursuant to the publication by the Electoral Commission dated 13th & 17th October 2022, the General Public is hereby informed that the Registration Certificates of the under-listed Political Parties have been cancelled in accordance with Section 15 (3) (c) of the Political Parties Law, 2000 (Act 574) effective the first day of November, 20.

The statement said, “Therefore, the commission has taken out the names or the above-mentioned organisations from the list of Political Parties in Ghana.”

One of the parties is the United Progressive Party (UPP), which was founded and is run out of Kumasi by Akwasi Addae, also known as Odike.

Another party on the list is the United Front Party (UFP), which was also founded by Akwasi Addai Odike and Nana Agyenim Boateng, better known by his stage name Gyataba.

However, due to differences, Odike left the UFP to found the UPP. The Democratic Freedom Party (DFP), which was founded by Dr. Obed Yao Asamoah and a few other National Democratic Congress (NDC) members who left the NDC following the 2005 national executive elections to found the DFP, is also included on the list. On the list is the National Reform Party (NRP), which Goosie Tanoh and other NDC defectors led in 2000.

The Liberal Party of Ghana (LPG), which Kofi Akpaloo, the former leader of the Reform Patriotic Democrats, has since taken over, is also on the list.

To check the offices of all Ghanaian political parties that have been registered, the Electoral Commission conducted a nationwide operation. The dates this drill took place were May 16 to June 9, 2022. The 17 under-listed political parties do not have offices at the national and regional levels, as required by Section 15 (1) of the Act 574, the EC stated in a notification that was published.

Below is the list of the affected political parties

Democratic People’s Party (DPP)
United Front Party (UFP)
United Development System Party (UDSP)
Every Ghanaian Living Everywhere (EGLE)
Yes People’s Party (YPP)
United Ghana Movement (UGM)
Democratic Freedom Party (DFP)
New Vision Party (NVP)
Ghana Democratic Republican Party (GDRP)
Ghana National Party (GNP)
Power Unity Party (PUP)
United Progressive Party (UPP)
Reform Patriotic Democrats (RPD)
People’s Action Party (PAP)
United Renaissance Party (URP)
National Reform Party (NRP)
United Love Party (ULP)