President of the Students Representative Council of the Ghana Institute of Journalism, Mr. Emmanuel Kumah has revealed that he spent about GHC 5,000 on his political campaign that saw him get a historic win in the 2018/2019 GIJ SRC elections.
The manner at which tertiary students are able to fund their political campaigns for an executive positions have come under question following the extravagance of these political activities.
Students of the Ghana Institute of Journalism with ambitions of becoming an elected executive of the school’s students front are, as at 2018, supposed to pay and outright fee of GHC 900.00 to pick nominations. Those who wish to vie for the presidential portfolio are to pay GHC 1,000.00
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Speaking on how his political campaign was funded, Mr. Emmanuel Kumah, who admitted of printing about 800 posters for his campaign said he spend about GHC5,000 on his political activity.
Mr. Kumah, who arguably ran the most expensive campaign during the election, said his campaign was largely funded by his family and friends.
Although Mr. Kumah was allegedly present at a National Democratic Congress meeting held around the Accra City campus of the University of Ghana in April this year, Mr. Kumah denied receiving any form of financial assistance from any political party.
Asked of what his motivation was in spending such an amount in a bid for the presidency, Mr. Kumah said that it was self-gratifying to spend as much as GHC5k on his campaign.
According to him, he had set a target to serve the interest of students and he did not matter to him how costly it was to see the students interest served.
“…It is self gratifying. There is a target that you have set and that is to serve student interest. You’ve preached the message and identified the challenges the students are going through” he said
Mr. Emmanuel Kumah also added that he did give money to any student in an attempt to buy their conscience.
According to Mr. Kumah, students of the GIJ were very discerning and thus, spending a lot of money doesn’t guarantee electoral victory in the school.