The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has deployed 120 observers to monitor the upcoming Presidential and Parliamentary elections in Ghana.
The observers were sent to Accra on December 5, 2024, ahead of the general elections scheduled for December 7, 2024.
As part of its electoral assistance to member states, ECOWAS Commission President H.E. Dr. Omar Alieu Touray approved the deployment of 21 long-term observers (LTOs) and 120 short-term observers (STOs). These observers will be spread across 16 regions and 216 districts in Ghana, providing oversight and support for the entire electoral process.
The team of observers includes members from the ECOWAS Parliament, the Community Court of Justice, representatives from foreign ministries of ECOWAS member states, the ECOWAS Permanent Representatives Committee (PRC) in Abuja, the ECOWAS Network of Electoral Commissions (ECONEC), as well as regional election experts.
Upon the observers’ arrival, H.E. Ambassador Mohammed Lawan Gana, ECOWAS Resident Representative in Ghana, emphasized the organization’s strong commitment to supporting democratic processes across its member states. He noted that a peaceful and credible election would not only strengthen Ghana’s democracy but also reinforce ECOWAS’s broader goal of promoting democratic governance across the region.
Ambassador Abdel-Fatau Musah, ECOWAS Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace, and Security, reaffirmed that the deployment aligns with ECOWAS’s Supplementary Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance, which was adopted in 2001. The protocol advocates for timely pre-electoral missions and election observation to ensure democratic practices are upheld.
The Head of the ECOWAS Election Observation Mission, H.E. Mohammed Namadi Sambo, former Vice President of Nigeria, welcomed the observers and underscored the importance of their mission in fostering regional stability. He noted that elections are often triggers for conflict, and therefore, their mission is not only to ensure democratic consolidation but also to maintain peace and stability before, during, and after the elections.
Vice President Sambo stressed the necessity of the observers’ success in ensuring the elections are transparent, free, fair, credible, peaceful, and inclusive while adhering to ECOWAS standards.
ECOWAS has also extended financial support to Ghana’s electoral process, providing a grant of $210,000 USD to key stakeholders such as the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), the National Peace Council (NPC), the Coalition of Domestic Election Observers (CODEO), and the Foundation for Security and Development in Africa (FOSDA). This funding demonstrates ECOWAS’s commitment to facilitating peaceful elections and supporting the democratic process in the region.
