Legal Practitioner expresses concern over disqualification of some Presidential hopefuls 
                                 
A private legal practitioner Sam Okudjeto says he finds it worrying that large numbers of political parties and independent candidates who are not involved in the national discourse spring up during elections. 

In his view, this does not augur well for Ghana's democracy. 

Mr.  Okudjeto was speaking on GBC's current affair program "Talking point" which discussed the disqualification of 13 presidential candidates in the upcoming election. 

He said the issues raised in the disqualification of the candidates are both sentimental and legal. 
 
The legal issues are the ones that must be looked at.

Asked whether the Electoral Commission should have extended the date for the filing of papers for candidates because of the court case, Mr. Okudzeto said technically, it was a wrong move because the filing of the papers and payment of the fees should have gone together. 

A Governance Expert Dr. Oduro Osae who spoke via telephone said political parties must be abreast of the electoral processes. 

He said the errors identified by the electoral Commission cannot be classified as minor because the law does not describe it as such.  

Dr. Oduro Osae also called for the establishment of a political parties fund to grow the smaller parties.

Chairman of the PNC, Bernard Mornah was unhappy with the Electoral Commission claiming it over looked the refusal of some political parties submitting their audited accounts but was hard on errors in the application process.

GBC