Election 2020: CODEO’s 4,000 plus election observers hit grounds

The Coalition of Domestic Election Observers (CODEO), has deployed over 4000 of its members to all 275 constituencies in the sixteen (16) regions of Ghana for the general elections scheduled for Monday, December 7, 2020. Ghanaians will go to the polls to elect a President and 275 Members of Parliament (MPs) for the next four years.

Acting Chairman of CODEO, Shiekh Arimaywo Shaibu, who revealed this at a press briefing on Sunday at the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Center (KAIPTC) said the launch of the coalition’s National Information Center (NIC) located at the KAIPTC is what has helped in the deployment of the non-partisan membership of the election observers for the December 7, 2020 presidential and parliamentary elections.

The coalition said it is very much aware that elections provide opportunities for citizens to democratically select their representatives to govern and manage the affairs of the society on their behalf, hence, such democratic right of exercising one’s franchise ought to be conducted in a manner that the processes and outcomes are generally deemed credible and acceptable – a course they are always committed to.

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They added that, though Ghana’s electoral processes have gradually gone through some positive reforms since the commencement of the country’s fourth republic, there are still some challenges that keep hovering around the electoral processes.

“We all acknowledge that the country has made tremendous gains since 1992 in improving the conduct of elections. And yet, we also recognize that challenges remain, including mistrust and mutual suspicion among major stakeholders. Certainly, 2020 is no exception. Indeed, in addition to recurring and new challenges that have confronted this year’s election, the conduct of the election is occurring in an extraordinary circumstance with the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Shiekh Arimaywo Shaibu.

CODEO noted that, all its observers are fully trained and prepared for their observation assignment, and that, these officials would be around all the various polling stations across the entire regions right from when the election begins till the pronouncement of the results.

They again indicated that, all CODEO officials shall be in the coalition’s apparel for legitimacy and easy identification at the various polling stations.

CODEO urged all registered voters to actively participate in the elections by going out to vote and encouraged all voters to comport themselves during the polling process by following the laid down rules and procedures, including social distancing and other COVID-19 safety protocols.

Source: NewsDesk