Strong Liberian delegation completes 5-day study tour of Ghana’s electoral system
- Ghana’s Electoral Commission has recently hosted a delegation from its counterpart from Liberia
- The Liberian delegation was in Ghana to understudy the Jean Mensa-led EC
- Liberia will head to the polls in 2023
After a successful 2020 general elections, officials from various elections management bodies across the continent are visiting Ghana to understudy the Electoral Commission of Ghana.
The Liberia National Electoral Commission (NEC) is the latest to complete a study tour of Ghana’s electoral system.
Source: Facebook
The visit lasted for five days and it is expected to give the Liberian delegation led by the country’s NEC chairperson, Davidetta Browne Lansanah, the opportunity to learn about Ghana’s electoral reforms.
Liberia’s elections are scheduled for 2023.
The Liberian delegation and its Ghanaian counterpart completed among other things a working session on Biometric Technology reports allafrica.com.
Lansanah stated after the Biometric Technology session that “more technicians from the NEC will be sent to Ghana to acquire practical experience.”
Jean Mensa, according to a Ghana News Agency report took the Liberian delegation through the journey of the establishment of Ghana’s Electoral Commission in 1993 and the reforms that followed since.
2020 elections
Ghanaians on Monday, December 7, 2020, were at the polls to elect a president and 275 legislators to represent them in Parliament.
Over 16 million voters participated in the December 7 elections, having endured a challenging year due to the raging coronavirus pandemic.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo won the presidential election. He defeated former President John Mahama to secure another four-year term; collecting 51.302% of the votes cast against the latter’s 47.359%.
The votes difference between the two candidates stood at 517, 231, representing a four-percentage point, one of the highest since 1996.
Most successful elections
The 2020 general elections are the most successful since the inception of the Fourth Republic, the Electoral Commission (EC) stated.
“It is…indisputable that the 2020 parliamentary and presidential elections were the most successful, well-coordinated, efficient, and the most peaceful election organised in the 4th Republic of Ghana,” the EC’s Deputy Director of Elections, Michael Boadi stated at a post-election workshop by CODEO in Accra.
The European Union Election Observation Mission to Ghana 2020 (EU EOM) also said the elections organised by the Jean Mensa-led EC were “efficiently organised and competitive.”
Chief Observer, Javier Nart, noted that voters participated freely in large numbers and that the process “successfully met a range of international standards.”
Election petition
The former president rejected the outcome of the elections and petitioned the Supreme Court.
He argued that there was no winner in the elections and that the EC's declaration was flawed.
However, the Apex Court dismissed the petition, stating that it cannot order a rerun of the 2020 presidential polls.
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Source: YEN.com.gh
