ECOWAS deploys observers for Dec. 7 election

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has deployed over 100 observers to Ghana for the 2024 general election scheduled for December 7, the Head of the Electoral Assistance Division of ECOWAS, Serigne Mamadou Ka, has said.

He said an initial team of 16 long-term observers arrived on Wednesday, November 20, 2024, while a group of 90 short-term observers would arriive on December 2 or 3.

This, he said, would bring the total number of observers to over 100, adding that a team of five core members would be based in Accra, with 16 long-term observers being deployed across the 16 regions. 

Mr Ka, who is also the Permanent Secretary of ECOWAS Network of Electoral Commissions (ECONE), disclosed this in an interview in Accra last Thursday shortly after ECOWAS had given a grant totalling $210,000 to support two state institutions and two civil society organisations (CSOs) in Ghana to promote free, fair, peaceful, credible and transparent elections and help deepen the country’s democracy.

The beneficiary institutions of the grant were the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), National Peace Council (NPC), Ghana Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana) and Foundation for Security and Development in Africa (FOSDA).

The NCCE received $100,000 to support its ongoing civic and voter education ahead of the polls; NPC had $50,000 towards its peace and mediation efforts; CDD-Ghana got $30,000, while FOSDA got $30,000 to ensure a free, fair, credible and transparent electoral process.

ECOWAS observer team

Mr Ka said the ECOWAS observer team would be led by a former Nigerian Vice-President, Nnamadi Sambo, who would arrive with the short-term observers between December 2 and 3.

“ECOWAS has a history of deploying observers to member states to ensure peaceful and credible elections. This mission is part of the organisation's efforts to promote democracy and stability in the region,” he said.

"We want peaceful elections," Mr Ka emphasised, adding that, "Election is an event that is constitutionally mandated. When it comes, everyone wants to win. But at the end of the day, there is only one winner, and the others will have to follow."

Commitment

The Resident Representative of ECOWAS in Ghana, Ambassador Mohammed Lawan Gana, who presented the grant to representatives of the beneficiary institutions, said it was to reaffirm ECOWAS’ commitment to supporting Ghana's democratic process.

He said the support was to promote a transparent and peaceful electoral process.

“ECOWAS normally supports countries on the verge of elections to ensure credible, free and fair polls,” he explained.

Ambassador Gana expressed optimism about Ghana's electoral preparations, stating that, "So far, so good. The observers have been meeting with stakeholders, and we hope to sustain this momentum until the last day of the elections."

He emphasised the importance of peaceful elections, urging Ghanaians to “have a peaceful and credible election. Ghana is a model for democracy in the region, and we want this election to reinforce that.”

Beneficiaries

The Commission Secretary, Lucille Hewlett Annan, who received the grant on behalf of the NCCE, thanked ECOWAS for supporting the commission’s civic and voter education activities ahead of the election.

The Executive Secretary of the NPC, George Amoh, for his part expressed the council’s gratitude to ECOWAS for the support.

The Director for Policy Engagement and Partnerships, CDD-Ghana, Dr Kojo Asante, is to support the Ghana fact-checking coalition, led by Media Foundation for West Africa, to set up a fact-checking situation room, support the training of journalists and monitors for the situation room, as well as journalists in hard to reach areas.

He added that it was also to support the collaboration between CDD-Ghana and the fact-checking coalition on combating misinformation and disinformation by using the 4,000 election observers to be deployed by the Coalition for Domestic Election Observers under CDD-Ghana to help verify incidences that occurred on the election day at the polling stations.

For her part, Susana Sugri Batesimah of FOSDA said the support was for the ‘Ballot not Bullet’ campaign of FOSDA aimed at promoting non-violent election through the participation and engagement of young people in the electoral process, the training of youth peace ambassadors and women.