YIAGA deploys 12-member mission to observe Ghana’s presidential election

Election Observer group, YIAGA Africa, has deployed a 12-member election study mission to observe the Ghanaian presidential and parliamentary elections scheduled for 7 December.

The mission, headed by Aisha Abdullahi, a former African Union Commissioner for Political Affairs, includes legislators, academics, civil society leaders, legal experts, and media practitioners from across Africa.

Members of the mission include the Chairperson of the Nigerian Senate Committee on INEC and Electoral Matters, Sharafadeen Alli; the Chairperson of the Nigerian House of Representatives Committee on Electoral Matters, Adebayo Balogun; the President of the Nigerian Bar Association, Afam Osigwe; and the Executive Director of YIAGA, Samson Itodo.

Bonolo Magkale of the Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria, South Africa; and Ijeoma Osamor, a TV host with the African Independent Television (AIT) are also part of the mission.

Other members include PREMIUM TIMES’ Bakare Majeed, YIAGA Africa Board Chair Hussaini Abdu, YIAGA Head of Operations and Research, Olusegun Ogundare, YIAGA’s Programme Coordinator, Ibrahim Faruk, and Gifty Quarshie.

“YIAGA Africa is undertaking this mission to understudy and document good practices on election result management, voting rights, electoral technology, artificial intelligence (AI), and issue-based politics,” Mr Itodo said in a statement on Wednesday.

He stated that the mission is YIAGA Africa’s fourth election study mission under its Transforming Electoral Governance in Africa (TEGA) initiative. He explained that the team is tasked with studying the Ghanaian electoral process and documenting lessons that Nigeria could learn.

“The mission hopes to contribute to the body of knowledge on elections by documenting comparative lessons from the Ghanaian elections. This marks YIAGA Africa’s fourth election study mission under its Transforming Electoral Governance in Africa (TEGA) initiative, which enhances electoral governance through evidence-based learning, documentation, and advocacy,” he said.

Mr Itodo added, “The mission will observe pre-election, election day, and post-election activities using diverse observation tools.”

He also noted that “the mission will engage with key election stakeholders and collaborate with other domestic and international election observer missions as part of its comprehensive observation and study methodology. After the elections, a report will be issued to share the mission’s findings.”

YIAGA Africa has set up a mission secretariat at the Mövenpick Ambassador Hotel, Accra.

Ghana Presidential Election

On Saturday, 18.6 million Ghanaians are expected to vote to decide who will lead the nation.

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According to the Electoral Commission of Ghana, there are 13 candidates: nine representing political parties and four independent candidates.

However, the race is expected to be primarily between the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), which fielded Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia, and the National Democratic Congress (NDC), on whose platform former President John Mahama is seeking a comeback.

There is also Alan Kyerematen, a former NPP founding member and Minister of Trade and Industry, who launched the Movement for Change, also known as the Butterfly Movement, to contest the election as an independent candidate.