The Economic Commission of West African States’ (ECOWAS) has put in place a 250 Elections Observation Mission under the leadership of former President of Nigeria, Olusegun Obasanjo to observe Ghana’s December polls.
The team has the task of monitoring the December elections with the goal of ascertaining the level of credibility and peacefulness of the elections process, a statement to the Ghana News Agency in Accra on Friday signed by Jimm Chick Fomunjong, Communications and Information Assistant stated.
The statement said a pre-election team is already in Ghana to hold discussion with Civil Society Organisations on roles to consolidate peace and promote free and fair elections.
The team, led by Dr Abdel-Fatau Musah, Director of Political Affairs at ECOWAS, seeks to understand the views, expectations and challenges of stakeholders of Ghana’s 2012 Presidential Election.
“This will enable the team to draw recommendations from their findings which will inform the ECOWAS president’s decision on the specific role of the Commission during the upcoming elections,” the statement said.
Dr Musah pointed out that his team seeks to get the perspectives of political parties, journalists, National Media Commission, National Peace Council, Ghana Police Service, development partners and civil society.
The encounter with these stakeholders will give them an opportunity to collect information on the state of preparedness of for the elections.
It will also inform ECOWAS on the role it would play during the election process added to its observatory role, the statement added.
Source: GhanaWeb
