Africa
By Paul Ejime
Ahead of Ghana’s 7 December Presidential and Parliamentary Elections, the Electoral Commission (EC) has reiterated its commitment to deliver an inclusive, free, fair and transparent electoral process, while ECOWAS, the regional economic bloc made good its financial support to several institutions in the country.
“Since the 2020 elections, we have registered an additional 900,000 voters bringing the total of registered voters to 18,774,159, and we have made our operations open by ensuring that the meetings of the Inter-party Advisory Committee (IPAC) are open to the media,” the EC Chairperson Jean Mensa told the ECOWAS Election Observation Mission at the Commission’s Accra headquarters on Thursday 22nd November.
To build public trust and confidence in the Commission’s operations, she said the collation of results at the Collation Centres after vote counting at the polling stations would also be open to the media, with certified results uploaded on the Commission’s portal in real-time.
“This will demonstrate that the Commission has nothing to hide,” Madam Mensa affirmed, adding: “We are working for the people of Ghana, and we are 97% complete with the electoral process.”
She said the presence of ECOWAS Observers “means a lot to us, and our assurance to deliver free, fair and transparent elections is not a cliché, but the inclusive manner of our operations.”
Madam Mensa also expressed the Commission’s support for the pre-election Peace Agreement facilitated by the National Peace Council (NPC).
The accord is to be signed by stakeholders including the political parties, committing themselves to peaceful conduct and resorting to legal means in resolving any disputes.
In their introductory remarks, Serigne Ka, the Acting Head of the ECOWAS Electoral Assistance Division and Mr Roland Kouassi Amoussouga-Gero, Coordinator of the Long-term Observation Mission extended the goodwill message of the ECOWAS Commission President Dr Omar Alieu Touray, who approved the deployment of 120 ECOWAS Long- and Short-term observers to Ghana for the December elections.
They described Ghana as an important member of the regional bloc and reiterated the organisation’s determination to support its members in consolidating democracy in the region.
In a separate ceremony, the ECOWAS Resident Representative to Ghana Ambassador Mohamed Lawan Gana presented the documents to grant two hundred and ten thousand US dollars (US$210,000) to representatives of four institutions to support their activities in the electoral process.
The four institutions – Ghana’s National Peace Council (NPC), the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), the Foundation for Security and Development in Africa (FOSDA), and the Coalition of Domestic Election Observers (CODEO).
At a meeting with the Observation Mission on Friday, 23rd November, the Deputy Chairman of Operations, Samuel Asare Akuamoah briefed the observers on the activities of the Commission.
He expressed the Commission’s gratitude to the ECOWAS Commission for the financial grant of one hundred thousand US dollars (US$100,000), noting that the funds would be judiciously utilised.
Mr Akuamoah later presented some of NCCE’s publications and documentation to the ECOWAS Mission.
Eligible Ghanaian voters will, on 7th December, elect a new Ghana president from among 13 candidates, including four independents, to replace outgoing President Nana Akufo-Addo of the ruling NPP, who has completed his constitutionally allowed two terms of four years each.
The two frontrunners are former President John Mahama of the opposition NDC and NPP’s Mahamudu Bawumia, Akufo-Addo’s deputy.
Members of the 275-seat legislature will also be elected to replace the current hung parliament.
ECOWAS observers will be deployed in the country’s16 Regions and 216 Districts hosting 40,976 polling stations.
24th November, 2024.
C.E
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