FINANCING POLITICAL PARTIES UNDER the FOURTH REPUBLIC of GHANA by KINGSLEY S. AGOMOR (10045973) Thesis Submitted to the Universi
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University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh FINANCING POLITICAL PARTIES UNDER THE FOURTH REPUBLIC OF GHANA BY KINGSLEY S. AGOMOR (10045973) Thesis submitted to the University of Ghana, Legon, in partial fulfilment of the requirement for the award of PhD in Political Science degree June, 2015 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Declaration I, Kingsley Senyo Agomor, do hereby solemnly declare that apart from documentary and other sources of material cited and acknowledged in this work, I am entirely responsible for the authorship and any errors which may be found in this work despite the advice and suggestions I received from my supervisors. I also declare that this work has never been submitted by me or any other person to the University of Ghana, Legon or any other University for the award of any degree. …………………………….. Kingsley S. Agomor (STUDENT) SUPERVISORS ………………………………… …………………………………. PRINCIPAL SUPERVISOR SUPERVISOR EMERITUS PROF. K. A. NINSIN DR.MOHAMMED K. ABDULAI DEPT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE DEPT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE UNIVERSITY OF GHANA UNIVERSITY OF GHANA LEGON LEGON ……………………………………. SUPERVISOR DR. ZIBLIM IDDI DEPT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE UNIVERSITY OF GHANA LEGON i University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Dedicated to: Becky, Joshua, Philip and Michael ii University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Acknowledgement ‘God has made me to laugh and everyone who hears about this will laugh with me ’ (Genesis 21:6). I thank the Almighty God for the gift of life and knowledge, which enabled me to complete this thesis. My special gratitude goes to Professor Joseph R.A. Ayee, who started with the supervision of this thesis before his international appointment as the Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Head, College of Humanities, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa. To reach the pinnacle of academic height, I have had to stand on the back of academic giants to see my way clear. I therefore owe a debt of gratitude to Professor Emmanuel Gyimah-Boadi for his invaluable contributions and Professor Kwame Boafo-Arthur who stood by me when I needed his guidance. I lack the words to express my heartfelt appreciation to my principal supervisor, Professor Kwame A. Ninsin who read the draft and offered insightful suggestions. I pray that God will give me grace to extend the same passion with which he worked to my students. I am also grateful to the other members of the supervisory committee: Dr. Mohammed K. Abdulai and Dr. Ziblim Iddi for their patience, encouragement and advice that contributed to the completion of the thesis. I wish to express my profound gratitude to two officers from the Bureau of National Investigation (BNI) who provided me with the baseline information for my data collection. I cannot forget Mr. David Kanga, the immediate past Deputy Chairman of the Electoral Commission (EC) (Operations) for his immeasurable support in the collection of data at the headquarters of the EC. A note of thanks goes to the former Rector of GIMPA, Professor Yaw Agyeman Badu, as well as to Dr. Nicholas Amponsah, Dr. Nicholas Nii Okai, Professor E.K. Sakyi and Dr. Daniel Appiah for their academic interactions with me and inputs. A special word of gratitude also goes to Professor Kwaku Osei-Hwedie, Professor Samuel Adams, Mrs Love iii University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Ankora, Mrs Patience Attoh, Mr. Noah Aguh, Mr. Joseph Tawiah, Mr. Felix Ntumi and Mr. Atua Willington, who all, in diverse ways, supported me during the time of writing this thesis. I am grateful to Dr. Emmanuel Debrah, the Head of Department of Political Science, University of Ghana, Legon, and all the staff of the Department who always responded promptly to my call for assistance. Finally, I am extremely grateful to my wife, Ellen, for her support, warmth and forbearance, and to my children, Joshua, Philip and Michael for their prayers during the difficult task of writing this thesis. I must, however, hasten to add that the persons mentioned are not responsible for the lapses and omissions of this thesis. iv University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh TABLE OF CONTENT Content - - - - - - - - - Page Declaration - - - - - - - - - i Dedication - - - - - - - - - ii Acknowledgement - - - - - - - - iii Table of Content - - - - - - - - v List of Tables - - - - - - - - x List of Figures - - - - - - - - xiii Acronyms - - - - - - - - xiv Abstract - - - - - - - - xviii Chapter One: Introduction and Theoretical framework 1. 0 Introduction - - - - - - - - 1 1.1 Statement of the Problem - - - - - - 3 1.2 Hypotheses - - - - - - - - 7 1.3 Objectives of the Study - - - - - - 7 1.4 Research Questions - - - - - - 8 1.5 Operationalization of Key Variables - - - - - 8 1.6 Theoretical Framework - - - - - - 18 1.7 Literature Review - - - - - - 26 1.7.1 Democracy and Political Participation - - - - 26 1.7.2 Political Parties and Democratic Politics - - - - 29 v University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 1.7.3 Political Party Financing and Democratic Politics - - - 35 1.7.4 Party Financing and Democratic Politics in New Democracies - 40 1.7.5 Political Party Funding and Democratic Politics in Ghana - - 47 1.8 Research Methodology - - - - - - 52 1.9 Significance of the Study - - - - - 67 1.10 Limitation of the Study - - - - - - 68 1.11 Organization of Work - - - - - - 70 Chapter Two: The Historical Analysis of Political Party Funding In Ghana 2.0 Introduction - - - - - - - - 72 2.1 The Evolution of Political Parties in the Gold Coast: 1948-1957 - 72 2.2 The Development of Party Politics: 1957-1966 - - - 76 2.3 The Development of Party Politics: 1969-1972 - - - 78 2.4 The Development of Party Politics: 1979-1981 - - - 79 2.5 Party Funding under the CPP Government - - - - 82 2.6 Party Funding under the Second Republic - - - - 88 2.7 Party Funding under the Third Republic - - - - 90 2.5 Conclusion - - - - - - - - 97 vi University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Chapter Three: The Legal and Institutional Framework for Party Financing in Ghana 3.0 Introduction - - - - - - - - 100 3.1 The Institutional Framework of the State - - - - 100 3.2 The Matrix of Political Finance Law - - - - 102 3.2.1 Regulations on Limits - - - - - - 103 3.2.2 Regulations on Bans - - - - - - 108 3.2.3 Regulations on Disclosure - - - - - - 114 3.2.4 Regulations on Reporting and Enforcement - - - - 125 3.3 Conclusion - - - - - - - - 129 Chapter Four: Sources of Funding to Political Parties under the Fourth Republic of Ghana 4.0 Introduction - - - - - - - - 132 4.1 Analysis of the Sources of Party Funding - - - - 133 4.2 The Major Sources of Funding - - - - - 135 4.3 Other Relevant Sources - - - - - - 161 4.4 Utilization of Party Funds - - - - - - 166 4.5 Conclusion - - - - - - - - 168 vii University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Chapter Five: Contextual Variables and Financing of Political Parties in Ghana 5.0 Introduction - - - - - - - - 170 5.1 Political Patronage: Clientelistic and Neopatrimonial Politics - 170 5.2 Political Victimization - - - - - - 174 5.3 Socio-Economic Factors - - - - - - 177 5.4 Lack of transparency and accountability - - - - 181 5.5 Organizational capacity of political parties - - - - 183 5.6 Religious and cultural beliefs - - - - - 186 5.7 Conclusion - - - - - - - - 188 Chapter Six: The Impact of Party Funding on Internal Party Democracy 6.0 Introduction - - - - - - - - 190 6.1. Descriptive Analysis of Dependence on Party Financial Contributors 190 6.2 Influence of Wealthy Members of Political Parties - - - 195 6. 3 Internal Rules of Party Membership and Election - - - 197 6.4 Payment of Membership Dues for Delegates - - - - 202 6.5 Imposition of Candidates on the Party - - - - 204 6.6 Condoning Vote Buying - - - - - - 205 6.7 Test of Hypothesis - - - - - - - 206 6.8 Party Funding and Internal Party Democracy - - - - 211 6.9 Conclusion - - - - - - - - 226 viii University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Chapter Seven: Summary and Conclusions 7.0 Introduction - - - - - - - - 228 7.1 Summary of Key Findings - - - - - - 228 7.2 Implications of the Findings for Democratic Party Politics - - 236 7.3 Recommendations - - - - - - - 237 7.4 Conclusion - - - - - - - - 242 Notes - - - - - - - - - 245 Bibliography - - - - - - - - 272 Appendix “A” List of Registered Political Parties - - 292 Appendix “B” Survey Questionnaire - - - - - 294 Appendix “C” Interview Guide - - - - - 298 ix University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh List of Tables Table 1.1: Interviewees from political party card holding members and politician 55 Table 1.2 Relevant Public Institutions - - - - - 56 Table 1.3 Civil Society Organizations - - - - - 56 Table 1.4: Membership Status of Respondents - - - - 63 Table 1.5: Membership positions and Political Parties - - - 64 Table 1.6: Regional Distribution of Respondents - - - - 65 Table 3. 1: Law to limit the contribution of individuals and companies - 105 Table 3. 2 Disclosure of income by Political Parties - - - - 117 Table 3.3 Disclosure of income by Members of Political Parties - - 117 Table 3. 4. Disclosure of Expenditure by Political Parties - - - 118 Table 3. 5 Disclosure of Expenditure by Members of Political Parties - 118 Table 3.6: Political Parties Compliance with Disclosure Rules - - 120 Table 4.1: Source of Political Party Financing (2005 – 2012) - - - 134 Table 4. 2: Major sources of income by Parties (cross tabulation) - - 138 Table 4.3: Major sources of Income by Position in Parties - - - 139 Table 4. 4: Suggestions by Respondents to Improve Party Financing - 150 Table 4.5: Allocation of State-owned Vehicles to Political Parties, 1992-2012 156