The Commissioner of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Political Affairs, Peace and Security Directorate, Ambassador Dr. Abdel-Fatau Musah, says the ECOWAS observer team to Ghana for the 2024 general election slated for Saturday, December 7, 2024, is not to find faults but to promote free, fair, peaceful, credible, and transparent elections.

According to him, a former Vice President of Nigeria, H.E. Mohammed Namadi Sambo, will lead the ECOWAS Election Observation Mission team during the Presidential and Parliamentary Elections in Ghana.

ECOWAS has thus deployed 145 observers from member states with valid backgrounds to be spread across all 16 regions of Ghana.

Addressing members of the ECOWAS observer team to Ghana at the Alisa Hotel in Accra today, Thursday, December 5, 2024, Ambassador Dr. Musah explained that the commission has a history of deploying observers to member states during general polls to ensure peaceful and credible elections. This mission is part of the organisation’s efforts to promote democracy and stability in the sub-region, he reiterated.

Ambassador Dr. Musah hinted that the ECOWAS observer team has three (3) clear mandates to fulfill during their stay in Ghana. The first mandate is to assist in ensuring that the electoral process is free, fair, credible, and transparent.

“The second mandate of the team,” he noted, “is to visit voting centers to monitor the voting process and report on what they see happening on the ground and nothing else. The third mandate is to play a mediation role when the need arises,” he retorted.

“We strongly believe we are going to have peaceful elections come December 7. Election, as we all know, is an event that is constitutionally mandated. When it comes, everyone wants to win. But at the end of the day, there is only one winner, and the others will have to follow,” Amb. Dr. Musah emphasised.

The Resident Representative of ECOWAS in Ghana, Ambassador Mohammed Lawan Gana, reaffirmed ECOWAS’ commitment to supporting Ghana’s democratic process.

Amb. Gana expressed optimism about Ghana’s electoral preparations, stating, “So far, so good. The observers have been meeting with stakeholders, and we hope to sustain this momentum until the last day of the elections.”

He emphasised the importance of peaceful elections, urging Ghanaians to “have a peaceful and credible election.”

According to Amb. Gana, Ghana is a model for democracy in the region. “We want the 2024 election to reinforce that.”

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