PRESIDENT KOROMA RECEIVES ECONEC By State House Communications Unit Yearning for transparent and peaceful conduct of elections in the sub-region, President Dr Ernest Bai Koroma has on Wednesday 11th June met with executive members of ECOWAS Network of Electoral Commissions (ECONEC) formed far back in 2008. Welcoming the delegation, the Chief Executive said, democracy, peace and growth of the West African sub-region, largely depend on people being given the opportunity to make independent choices of their leaderships, which he said can only be realized when we have effective and impartial electoral systems. “Most of the problems we have had in the past within the sub-region were as a result of either a disputed outcome of elections or people believing that the processes were undermined and therefore, for us to consolidating the peace and deepen our democracy, elections processes must be transparent and reflect the thinking and wish of the people,” observed President Koroma. He further noted that for the sub-region to have a peaceful and acceptable outcome of an election there is the need to look into election processes, managing of the process and the funding of electoral processes. “Not that we don’t have challenges,” he said, “but with credible organizations like ECONEC, we will not only overcome our challenges but will also provide us with the opportunity to share experiences and support each other so that the organization becomes a universally accepted system in the sub-region.” President Koroma said when politicians know that there is no way to rig elections and know that the electorates are well enlightened to make the right choices, they would have no choice but to do what is right for the people and this will surely bring in development and peace in the region. With proper planning and management of ECONEC, the Head of State expressed the firm belief that the people of Africa will be looking forward to elections with high expectations that will give them the opportunity to make a choice of leadership and not the opportunity to create chaos and unrest. President Koroma on behalf of his colleague Heads of States assured that ECOWAS at summit level will continue to support ECONEC to ensure that the system of elections become standardized, open and transparent “so that the opportunities we have in the sub-region could be realized at a faster pace” and thanked OSIWA for providing support both nationally and internationally. Dr. Christiana Thorpe, the president of ECONEC introduced the executive members of ECONEC and endeavoured to explain the organization’s objectives. According to Madam Thorpe, ECONEC is having a General Assembly every two years and that at present the organization is looking at critical issues and the opportunities and challenges of the support that is given to countries organizing elections. She intimated that five countries including Benin, Guinea, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Mali and Ivory Coast are due to hold elections in 2015 and 2016 and the organization is preparing and looking ahead at these countries and what needs to be done with the support of ECOWAS before the elections take place. She reported that this is the first meeting they are having in Sierra Leone and that the second meeting due in September will be held in Cape Verde in preparation for the General Assembly in Guinea. Meanwhile, Madam Thorpe acknowledged the high reception they received from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and also thanked OSIWA as funding partners providing ECONEC with support both nationally and internationally.
Posted on: Thu, 12 Jun 2014 14:38:19 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015