Election 2020: EU observer mission begins work

The European Union has deployed over 80 persons to Ghana to observe the December 7 general elections.

The team is led by Chief Observer Javier Nart, a member of the European Parliament from Spain.

The EU observer mission is made up of a core team and observers from European countries such as Norway, Switzerland, and Canada.

The core team made up of nine analysts will analyse the political, electoral and legal issues related to the electoral process and would be supported by logistical and security experts.

Chief Observer Javier Nart said the mission is a clear sign of the EU’s strong commitment to supporting peaceful, credible and transparent elections in Ghana.

It is the EU’s third EOM to Ghana after 2008 and 2016, as well as an Election Follow-up Mission in 2019.

In a statement, the Chief Observer said this year’s contest is a unique and very interesting one featuring, among the 12 candidates, a President and a former President.

On Election Day, the mission will be supplemented across the country by some 30 locally recruited short-term observers drawn from the diplomatic community.

This will bring the number of EU observers on polling day to over 80.

The Chief Observer said the coronavirus pandemic meant there were “challenging times in which to conduct elections and challenging times, too, in which to observe them”.

The observers will be deployed to all the 16 regions to observe the electoral process including the legal framework and its implementation, campaign activities, conduct of the electoral administration, social and traditional media, voting, counting and collation of results.

The team will remain in the country beyond election day to observe the post-electoral environment.

The EU is expected to publish a preliminary statement shortly after the election day and a final report including recommendations after the end of the whole electoral process.