One of the greatest problems facing our beloved country right now is the proliferation of charlatans writing, opining and reporting on crucial issues as if they are authorities.

We have been shocked to read and hear as supposedly learned citizens/journalists mislead that a Statutory Instrument (subsidiary legislation) needs Presidential assent after it has been approved by Parliament. This is so utterly wrong. It is sad that certain people are trying to mislead thus.

The President needed to assent to the Public Elections Act of 2012 but after he assented to that Act, he then had no business with legislative approval of the subsidiary legislation (Nomination Fees). That was now only within realm of NEC’s Christiana Thorpe and the House of Parliament.

We should never lose sight of the fact that it was the SLPP MPs who just a few months ago, teamed up with the PMDC and APC parliamentarians to give a carte blanche (blank check) to NEC (Christiana Thorpe) to prescribe any amount which NEC desired to prescribe as Nomination Fees. The 2002 Elections Laws ensured they specified the precise fees for each seat but the 2012 Elections laws left it to NEC to decide how much should be charged. So, NEC, in its 'wisdom' decided to charge what it charged. So, who is to blame for the mess?

The only solution to the mess which SLPP/PMDC created and were threatening us over, is the one which the President deployed. In the interest of our peace & security, he used his executive powers to subsidise the legislated Nomination Fees. There was nothing else he could do under his powers so we hope our charlatans will stop misleading our people with their fallacious positions they keep on expressing. 

Our people deserve better than this cheap politics. This is why some of us can’t wait for November 17 to come and go.