2024 Elections: Competitive, well conducted — EU

“The 2024 presidential and parliamentary elections were competitive, well conducted, with a generally peaceful and inclusive campaign,” the European Union (EU) Election Expert Mission has stated.

“The election met most regional and international obligations for elections. Civil and political rights, including freedoms of association, assembly, movement and speech and the right to vote, essential for inclusive, competitive elections, were provided,” it said in its final report presented to the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission (EC), Jean Adukwei Mensa, last Tuesday.

The EU Ambassador to Ghana, Irchad Ramiandrasoa Razaaly, who presented the report, commended Ghana for the conduct of the 2024 Presidential and Parliamentary elections, describing the process and outcome as “positive.” 

Commendation

He commended the government and people of Ghana for deepening the country’s democratic credentials through peaceful polls, despite some challenges and highlighted the EC’s openness and transparency as key to the success of the 2024 election.

“We have spoken with and met  many of your peers from other African countries and I must say, the overall conduct of the election has been inspiring to many African brothers,” he said.

Ambassador Razaaly encouraged other African countries to learn from Ghana’s example of conducting peaceful, free, fair and transparent elections and urged the EC to open its doors for knowledge and experience sharing.

He described Ghana as a country where people freely expressed dissent, opinions and assessments of the government.

“Going to the Makola market, Korle-Bu and Chorkor and most of the people we interact with say, we like this and we don’t want to change this.

We have our disagreement, we might be frustrated because of ABC, but this democracy, we want to save,” he said. 

Progress

Ambassador Razaaly also noted progress made on the EU’s 2020 recommendations, including the role of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) and the absence of legal barriers to women’s participation.  

“The EC should continue efforts to further improve adherence to the procedures for ballot reconciliation and accurate and timely collation of results at the constituency and regional levels, building on the improvements noted for these elections,” he added. 

EC pledge

In response, Mrs Mensa pledged the commission’s commitment to using the report for the benefit of all Ghanaians.

“We intend to use both the technical aspects, what has gone on well and where we need to improve,” she said.

She acknowledged that the report accurately reflected the realities on the ground and reaffirmed the EC’s dedication to daily improvements in Ghana’s electoral processes. —GNA.