‘Credible elections, vital for stability in Africa’
The Chairperson of the Electoral Commission (EC), Mrs Charlotte Osei, has stated that free, fair and credible elections are a prerequisite for peace and stability in Africa.
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She has, therefore, challenged election management bodies in Africa to strive to attain those key objectives in all elections.
Mrs Osei stated this at the opening of the general assembly meeting of the Association of African Election Authorities currently underway in Accra.
The two-day continental meeting is on the theme: “Promoting credible and transparent electoral processes in Africa through inter-election management bodies cooperation and assistance”.
Mrs Osei advised members of the association not to allow the teething challenges confronting the association to deter them from providing a platform for the sharing of experiences to ensure democratic stability on the continent.
She commended donor agencies for assisting the association to compile a training manual to assist members to conduct credible elections.
She also urged the 54-member countries to strive to make maximum value of the meeting, so that election-related violence could be brought under control, if not completely eradicated.
Revitalisation
Addressing the meeting, Dr Khabele Matlosa, the Director of Political Affairs of the African Union (AU) Commission, said the Accra meeting was aimed at reviving, revamping and revitalising the association to help sustain the democratic momentum currently taking place on the continent.
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He said it was through the conduct of credible elections that the 54-member states making up the AU could achieve their goals of eradicating poverty and inequality within the shortest possible time.
He said elections could be described as double-edged swords, since they could promote peace and prosperity if managed well but could also spell doom and undermine democracy, trigger civil war, as well as perpetuate poverty, if badly conducted.
Post-election
Dr Matlosa, therefore, urged African leaders to invest more in elections to prevent the post-election challenges to peace and prosperity.
He said the purpose of convening the general assembly of the association in Accra was to learn from the Ghanaian experience.
He said, for example, that Ghana had developed a code of conduct for contestants, as well as a national infrastructure such as the National Peace Council that preached peace before and after elections.
Credible elections
Delivering the keynote address, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Ms Hanna Tetteh, said the 54-member states had no excuse not to hold credible elections if Nigeria, with one of the largest populations in Africa, had shown the way by holding free and credible elections.
She encouraged African election authorities to share ideas on organising free and fair elections and urged the association to create the opportunity and the platform for the exchange of ideas and experiences to improve election processes in Africa.
She expressed the hope that the narrative of the African rising would be sustained by political parties and civil society organisations working together until conditions for free and fair elections were met.