The Electoral Commission (EC) of Ghana has reinforced its commitment to delivering transparent elections while receiving crucial financial backing from ECOWAS for the December 7 presidential and parliamentary polls.
EC Chairperson Jean Mensa announced during a meeting with the ECOWAS Election Observation Mission in Accra on Thursday that the commission has significantly expanded voter registration since the 2020 elections.
“Since the 2020 elections, we have registered an additional 900,000 voters bringing the total of registered voters to 18,774,159, and we have made our operations open by ensuring that the meetings of the Inter-party Advisory Committee (IPAC) are open to the media,” Mensa stated.
In a bid to enhance transparency, Mensa revealed that media representatives would be granted access to observe result collation at designated centers, with real-time updates being uploaded to the Commission’s portal.
“This will demonstrate that the Commission has nothing to hide,” she emphasized. “We are working for the people of Ghana, and we are 97% complete with the electoral process.”
The EC has also thrown its weight behind a pre-election Peace Agreement, facilitated by the National Peace Council (NPC), which aims to secure commitments from political stakeholders for peaceful conduct and legal dispute resolution.
ECOWAS demonstrated its support through a significant financial package of US$210,000, distributed among four key institutions: the National Peace Council, the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), the Foundation for Security and Development in Africa (FOSDA), and the Coalition of Domestic Election Observers (CODEO).
During the presentation ceremony, ECOWAS Resident Representative to Ghana, Ambassador Mohamed Lawan Gana, formalized the financial support to strengthen these institutions’ roles in the electoral process.
The NCCE’s Deputy Chairman of Operations, Samuel Asare Akuamoah, acknowledged ECOWAS’s US$100,000 grant during a separate meeting with observers on Friday. “The funds would be judiciously utilised,” Akuamoah assured.
The upcoming elections feature 13 presidential candidates, including four independents, vying to succeed outgoing President Nana Akufo-Addo, who has completed his constitutional two terms. Former President John Mahama of the opposition NDC and NPP’s Mahamudu Buwemia emerge as the leading contenders.
The electoral landscape encompasses 40,976 polling stations across Ghana’s 16 regions and 216 districts, where voters will also elect representatives for the 275-seat legislature, currently in a hung parliament.
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ECOWAS’s commitment to the process is further demonstrated by the deployment of 120 Long- and Short-term observers, as approved by ECOWAS Commission President Dr. Omar Alieu Touray. Acting Head of the ECOWAS Electoral Assistance Division, Serigne Ka, and Long-term Observation Mission Coordinator Roland Kouassi Amoussouga-Gero emphasized Ghana’s significance in regional democracy during their remarks.
