ECOWAS Chief Elections Observer Visits Ghana Before General Election

General news for Thursday, December 3, 2020

Source: kessbenfm.com

2020-12-03

The Hon. Ms. Johnson Sirleaf, Chief Election Observer for the West African Economic State on Thursday 3 December paid a working visit to the country ahead of Monday’s general elections, which is in line with the ECOWAS Protocol on Good Governance and Democracy .

HE Ms Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, former President of Liberia and Principal Observer of Elections for ECOWAS in Ghana, together with her delegation, are in Ghana from December 3-12, 2020.

The delegation is made up of Marjon Kamara, former Liberian Foreign Minister and former Liberian Ambassador to the UN; and Lewis Brown, former Liberian Minister of Information, Culture and Tourism.

In her welcoming remarks, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Hon Ayorkor Botchwey, expressed her sincere appreciation for her visit to Ghana to observe the presidential and parliamentary elections.

He recalled the recent visit of the joint ECOWAS-AU pre-election team that was in Ghana to assess the country’s readiness for the December 7 general elections and recognized the importance of elections to access the quality of the governance system of a country and highlighted that it is a reflection of the right of citizens to choose their leaders.

Ms. Botchwey noted that Ghana is committed to promoting democracy, good governance, respect for human rights and the rule of law, which have been the foundation of its democratic governance since 1992.

He commended the outstanding work done so far by ECOWAS to carry out peaceful, free, fair and transparent elections in the region and the ongoing efforts to defuse political unrest in Mali, Guinea and Cote d’Ivoire.

The Minister for Foreign Affairs further assured the delegation of the Government of Ghana of the commitment to work closely with stakeholders to carry out elections that are free of violence, peaceful, fair and transparent.

He mentioned that the Government, the Electoral Commission and the National Electoral Security Architecture, headed by the Inspector General of Police, have implemented specific measures for the establishment of Joint Operations Centers (JOC), physical training and capacity building in the prosecution of electoral crimes, with the general objective of promoting elections free of violence and tension.

Ms. Ayorkor Botchwey expressed the hope that the ECOWAS Observer Mission will fulfill its duty and attest to the credibility of the elections at the end of the entire process. In this regard, ask the Mission to share its observations with the Government.