Kofi Ampeah Woode
Election management actors have been told that whether democratic traditions in Africa and beyond continue to evolve and get institutionalized, would significantly depend on how well electoral processes are managed, with stakeholder roles continuing to be critical.
The Chief Coordinator, Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC) – Colonel (Col) Chris Dagadu, said so as Guest of Honour after two-weeks of intensive training of the West African esteemed Training Centre of Excellence’s (TCE) Elections Management Training (EMT) 2023 edition, which ended on Friday 7 July 2023, at Teshie, Accra.
Col Dagadu stated that the adequacy of the legal framework of an election and the electoral system, are basic to the effective organization and management of the electoral process, just as the relationship between the integrity of the process and the prevention or otherwise of elections-related violence.
KAIPTC’s EMT course, is intended as a contribution to enhancing the capacity of the broad spectrum of electoral stakeholders, to effectively manage both the technical and the socio-political aspects of the elections process.
The training brought together some of the highest calibre of facilitators and resource persons, consisting of election practitioners, advocates and actors from Ghana’s Elections Management Body (EMB) – Electoral Commission, the Coalition of Domestic Elections Organization (CODEO-Ghana), the academia and from the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF), to deliver the strenuous programme.
As part of KAIPTC’s ongoing efforts at building regional capacity to effectively organize and manage elections in Africa and beyond to ensure peace, about seventeen (17) participants from Cameroun, la Cote d’Ivoire, Germany, Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal, Serbia and Somalia (some connected with United Nations Missions, European Union, and Luxemburgh), traversed the intricacies of elections.
The trainees were taken through topics such as Managing Elections (Focus on Africa), Election Management Bodies (Types and Functions), Standards and Principles for Election Administration, Legal Framework, Electoral Systems, Electoral Operations (Boundary Delimitation, Voter Registration, Training of Election Staff, Closing of Polls Activities, etc), Election Observation, Electoral Technology, Conflict and Security, Dispute Resolution, Electoral Integrity, Processes, Monitoring, etc.
Coupled with simulations and field trips, EMT ‘23 ended up at Ghana’s Electoral Commission, where participants interacted with some top brass, taking lessons, making enquiries, observations and recommendations.
By Kofi Ampeah-Woode
