Charlotte Osei, EC Chairperson
The chairperson of the Electoral Commission, Mrs. Charlotte Osei, has promised Ghana will record “one of the best elections ever” under her watch come December 7, 2016.
“With all the reforms that we have rolled out this year, we are certain as a commission that Ghana is going to have one of the best elections ever with higher levels of transparency, inclusiveness, and credibility and so we thank you and we look forward to working with you,” Mrs Osei said during the signing ceremony of an MoU with a delegation from the European Union on Tuesday.
The boss of the Electoral Management Body is optimistic the results of the general elections will be accepted by all, adding observer teams from various bodies will help make the poll credible.
“We welcome the work of the observer team and indeed we have had previous engagements in the past few months with the pre-assessment team that came earlier. We believe that this team, like the previous one, will help us in improving the quality of our elections and strengthen the integrity of our system.
“We will also be welcoming an observer team from the United States of America, Canada, EFID, the Electoral Institute for Sustainable Development in Africa, the African Union, and the ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States) team,” Mrs. Osei added.
She stated: “We are very much looking forward to working with the teams and the very many applications we have received from domestic observer teams as well. For the domestic observer team, the Commission will still be coming out with guidelines for accreditation for that process and also a manual to guide the work of the domestic observer team.
“So, I am very happy that the EU has taken the step to sign a Memorandum of Understanding agreement with us, formally recognising the rights and obligations of both parties and we thank you for the support you have given to the elections so far, and which you continue to give to Ghana as a whole, and we look forward to working with you and with the team. We are very certain that the work of the observer mission will strengthen the integrity and the outcome and the acceptability of this year’s elections.
“With all the reforms that we have rolled out this year, we are certain as a commission that Ghana is going to have one of the best elections ever with higher levels of transparency, inclusiveness, and credibility and so we thank you and we look forward to working with you.”
Ghana’s presidential election is a contest between four individuals – President John Mahama (NDC), Nana Akufo-Addo (NPP, Ivor Greenstreet (CPP) and Jacob Osei Yeboah (Independent). The 2016 polls will be the seventh under the Fourth Republic.
-Starrfmonline