Abstract

This article examines the contextual factors that influence political party financing in Ghana. There is no state funding for political activities in Ghana. Political parties have mechanisms to raise funds from their membership and party sympathizers. It is based on primary data collected through questionnaires and in-depth interviews with party members. The findings reveal that the mobilization of money from ordinary members of political parties in Ghana is a serious challenge because of weak institutional factors such as political patronage, lack of transparency and accountability, and lack of effective organizational capacity. The lack of financial support from ordinary members can also be attributed to poverty, fear of political victimization and socio-cultural beliefs of the citizens. A t-test shows that the institutional factors were found to be more severe than factors that were related to the weaknesses of the ordinary members.