South Africa, Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Uganda, Namibia, Sierra Leone, Cameroon, Mauritius, Tanzania, Mozambique and several other Commonwealth nations in the African continent. In his closing remarks, Momoh Mohammed Kaneneh from the National Electoral Commission expressed his gratitude to the Commonwealth Secretariat, for uniting the participants in Accra.
“Over the course of these five days, we have listened to experts in various fields talk to us about managing elections in our countries. We spoke about gender and inclusion, media, and public information as well as the implications of conducting elections in a pandemic like we have currently. This event will contribute to the safeguarding of democracies across the Commonwealth,” he noted.
The programme, which was co-hosted by the Election Commission of Ghana, was a part of the regional training sessions hosted by the Commonwealth under the Commonwealth Election Professionals (CEP) Initiative, a project funded by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Australia.
Sharing his views regarding the training event, Commonwealth Political Officer Lindiwe Maleleka underscored the need for electoral officials to continue to meet in order to discuss matters associated with the management of elections, as the world battles the Coronavirus.
“The ongoing pandemic has multiple facets and presents unprecedented challenges affecting every aspect of our lives. It is, of course, not only a public health emergency but also an economic, social, and environmental crisis. It poses a serious risk to our democratic culture, practices and processes as countries across and beyond the Commonwealth grapple with the need to protect rights and freedoms of citizens without endangering their health and safety,” she said.
