International community expresses interest in 2016 elections
Three doyens of elections experts called on stakeholders nationwide to support the Electoral Commission of Ghana (EC) in its quest to ensure a free, fair and peaceful general election in 2016.
Advertisement
They are the Chair of Ghana’s EC, Mrs Charlotte Osei; a former Chair of the Independent Nigeria Elections Commission (INEC), Professor Attahiru Jega; and the Director of
Electoral Integrity Programmes at the US-based National Democratic Institute (NDI), Dr Patrick Merloe.
They made the remarks during a courtesy call on members of the Institute of Democratic Governance in Accra.
Call
The call was under the auspices of Kofi Annan Foundation’s Electoral Integrity Initiative (EII) which seeks to promote credible and peaceful elections in the country.
To achieve its mission, the foundation invited Prof. Jega and Dr Merloe, two senior experts in elections, so they could interact with Ghana’s EC, leaders of political parties and civil society organisations from January 6 to 7 to share their experiences on elections that would help peaceful elections in 2016.
Peaceful elections
Dr Merloe said, “our visit is an indication of the early and keen interest of the international community in seeing credible, peaceful elections this year.
“The warm welcome given to us by the Electoral Commission of Ghana and other stakeholders is reassuring.
Other Trending Stories
“We have noted the political polarisation in Ghana and we encourage all stakeholders to work together to ensure electoral integrity.”
Prof. Jega noted that “peaceful and credible elections are the responsibility of all, and not only of the Electoral Commission. Candidates, political parties and civil society all have a role to play.”
Mrs Osei assured Ghanaians of peaceful, free and fair elections and added that “Ghana has a track record of being the beacon of democracy in the West African sub-region, since the inception of the Fourth Republic, and 2016 will be a manifestation of that.”
Mrs Osei commended media practitioners for the frequent education of the public on their civic responsibility and urged other stakeholders to emulate them.
“Our offices are open for any enquiries. As a commission, we are going to ensure that our constitutional mandate is adhered to religiously before, during and after the elections in 2016,” she stated.
Kofi Annan Foundation Electoral Integrity Initiative
The EII was born based on the conclusion of the Global Commission on Elections, Democracy & Security’s report, Deepening Democracy, chaired by Mr Annan.
It is an informal group of high-level election experts and former statesmen which aims to reinforce credible elections with a view to ensuring the full benefits of democracy, which include peace and security, inclusive development and respect of human rights and rule of law.
#GhanaVotes2016