The Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Dr Dominic Akuritinga Ayine, has stated that financial support from individuals does not compromise his integrity.
According to him, his 2024 parliamentary campaign in the Bolgatanga East Constituency was supported by contributions from several individuals.
However, “It doesn’t compromise me. Let me say this, all the political parties receive donations, either in cash or kind, from companies, from individuals, and so on. I am no exception,” he remarked in an interview on GHOne TV on Thursday, January 15, 2026.
For his 2024 parliamentary campaign, Mr Ayine disclosed that he spent between GH¢3 million and GH¢4 million to finance it.
“I can’t put an exact figure on it, but certainly between GH¢3 million and GH¢4 million,” he stated.
He also revealed that, not only do they receive financial aids from people but they also invest so much in people to attain victory.
“Almost every rally, we give people small amounts, like GH¢20,000 for water or transport. If you don’t have the money, you might have the intellect, but politics requires resources,” he explained.
In 2023, fundraising Manager at Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII), the local chapter of Transparency International, Michael Boadi, highlighted the importance of overseeing the financial aspects of political campaigns.
His comment is in a bid to bolster the fight against corruption.
“We cannot successfully combat corruption without controlling the financing of political parties. We must establish mechanisms to regulate political campaign finance,” stated Boadi during a session at the Ghana News Agency’s Boardroom Dialogue in the Tema Regional Office.
The event centered around the theme, “The fight against corruption in the Fourth Republic: A Mirage or Reality?”
Boadi pointed out that political campaign financing had become a significant catalyst for corruption, often leading to misappropriation of the country’s abundant resources if left unchecked.
“The situation is becoming increasingly perilous. According to research by the Centre for Democratic Development-Ghana, winning a parliamentary seat costs approximately US$300,000.00, a figure that continues to rise,” he noted.
Questioning the source of substantial funds required for political campaigns, Mr Boadi raised concerns over transparency and accountability.
“If a parliamentary seat in a smaller constituency demands $300,000.00, one must ponder the source of even larger sums spent by presidential candidates,” he commented.
Boadi stressed the urgency of disclosing the origins of funding for political parties and their candidates at both the presidential and parliamentary levels.
He warned that the failure to scrutinize funding sources could potentially lead to criminal entities such as money launderers, drug traffickers, and terrorists wielding influence over the country’s political landscape.
The efficacy of anti-corruption efforts, Michael Boadi argued, hinges on addressing these challenges and ensuring greater transparency.
He cautioned against the politicisation of corruption investigations, which has, in some instances, impeded the functionality of relevant institutions and dampened public interest in their proceedings.
To remedy this, Boadi suggested that corruption investigations be conducted transparently and without external interference. Such an approach, he believed, would encourage citizens to actively participate in the fight against corruption in Ghana.
In 2023, member of Parliament for Keta constituency in the Volta Region, Kwame Dzudzorli Gakpey, disclosed that it cost him a whopping GH¢1.4 million to run his campaign for the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Parliamentary primaries which took place across the country on Saturday, 13 May 2023.
According to the lawmaker, politics has become expensive and not an easy enterprise to fund.
Speaking on Talk of the Nation on Class91.3FM on Tuesday, 16 May 2023, Mr Gakpey said “It cost me GH¢1.4 million to run the campaign.”
Asked by show host Klem Setumte if the money was from his own resources, he said “From my own funds, friends and family”.
Mr Gakpey explained further, “Now posters are very expensive, the economy is hard” and quizzed rhetorically “Do you know how much an A0 poster costs now? One is GH¢20, GH¢25 that one is even impression…do you know how much T-shirt costs now? GH¢45, and then, do you know how much fuel costs? You have to empower teams to go house to house, it’s not an easy task and then [on election day], you have to convey all the people to the election ground, how to feed them and all that, it’s not an easy task.”
He continued that “Politics is expensive, campaigning is expensive, but the resources are from multiple sources, genuinely, that is what is happening, campaigning cost, it’s not an easy task”.
He added that “conveying 1,200 people to a ground to vote and feed them and all that, and then radio advert and all that, is not an easy task, I must be sincere with you, politics is becoming a very expensive business now.”
Asked about his motivation for wanting to be a parliamentarian when it has to cost him this much, Mr. Gakpey noted that his motivation is to save lives.
“My motivation is to save lives and people that’s it so that your name will remain in the books that you also saved lives because I [have] human-centered policies for my people. So money is not everything, caring for the aged, the needy ones are things you can see. If you ask me the benefits of this to me, it is that I see my people being healthy, I see my people being happy that I’ve impacted their lives.”
