ECOWAS Leaders
A joint mission of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), African Union (AU) and the United Nations (UN) have expressed concerns about the prevailing mistrust among political actors in Guinea.
They have, therefore, condemned violent and hate speech with a particular undertone that leads to violence in the country. These concerns come at a time when the country is preparing to go into its October 18, 2020 polls, where issues about possible clashes, unfair or rigged elections, among others, have been raised.
The Joint Mission have, thus, announced the deployment of ECOWAS and AU observers, in the coming days, to the country to contribute to a credible and transparent election.
A joint communique by the three bodies indicated that the President of Guinea, Prof Alpha Conde, is assuring the international community of peaceful election.
The communique said Prof Conde was reported to have “reaffirmed to the Mission his determination to promote peace in Guinea and the entire sub-region,” adding, “he assured the Mission that he would spare no effort to ensure the holding of a peaceful and transparent election in Guinea.”
Consultation
During its stay in Conakry, the capital of Guinea, the communique indicated, the Joint Mission held consultations with several political actors and stakeholders, including the Guinean Minister of Foreign Affairs and Guineans Abroad, the Minister of Security and Civil Protection, the group of African Ambassadors accredited to Guinea, members of the Group of 5 (G5), the political party members of the ruling coalition, the Republican opposition, coalition of opposition candidates, civil society organizations under the umbrella of the National front for Defence of the Constitution, religious leaders, women and youth associations.
It added that the Joint Mission also held consultations with the Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI), the High Authority for Communication (HAC) and the Constitutional Court on the State of preparations for the presidential election of October 18, 2020.
“The Joint Mission welcomed the commitment of the authorities to promote a credible and peaceful election,” it said, adding that “it also welcomed the progress made in the preparations for the various technical aspects of the election.”
The objective of the Joint Mission was to deepen engagement with various political actors and stakeholders in the electoral process, with a view to ensuring a credible, transparent, inclusive and violence-free election.
Cote d’Ivoire
In a separate communique, the President of Cote d’Ivoire, Alassane Ouattara, said he would spare no effort to ensure the holding of a credible, inclusive, transparent and peaceful presidential election in his country.
The Mission was in Abidjan from October 4 to 7, 2020.
The purpose of the Joint Mission was to provide Ivoirian stakeholders an additional high-level consultative platform, in addition to ongoing efforts to establish communication and interaction among political actors, to agree on consensual commitments for an inclusive, transparent and peaceful presidential election.
During the Mission’s stay in Abidjan, President Ouattara reaffirmed his commitment to promoting peace in Cote d’Ivoire and the entire ECOWAS sub-region.
The Joint Mission was consecutive to the ECOWAS-UN video conference held with the President of the Independent Electoral Commission of Cote d’Ivoire on June 24, 2020 to review the preparations for the presidential elections of October 31, 2020.
The delegation of the Joint Mission was composed of the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration of Ghana and Chairperson of the ECOWAS Council of Ministers, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey; Special Representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations for West and the Sahel, Mohamed Ibn Chambas; ECOWAS Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security, General Francis A. Behanzin, and the Executive Secretary of the Council of the Entente, Patrice Kouame.
Source: dailystatesman.com.gh/Isabella Agyakwa
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