African Election Authorities meet in Ghana

Accra, Aug. 12, GNA - Ghana is to host the Association of African Election Authorities' (AAEA) Advisory Board meeting from Thursday, August 14 to Saturday August 16, to deliberate on modalities and structures for its contributions to the work of the African Union (AU). Dr Kwadwo Afari-Gyan, Chairman of Ghana's Electoral Commission told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in an interview in Accra that the three-day meeting would afford the participants the opportunity to discuss AAEA's proposal for Consultative Status within the AU.

He said it would also discuss modalities for attracting support from the AU for AAEA finances, professional training projects for election officers and recommendation to member governments.

Dr Afari-Gyan, who is the AAEA Executive Secretary, said the association was conceived to promote and institutionalise the professional nature of African election authorities through regional exchanges and networking.

He said it was important for African Electoral Authorities to network as member countries have common problems.

In voter registration, for instance, almost all countries have the problem of determining people's ages, nationality and finding the most very spacious cost-effective way of going about registration.

Members in the Africa Sub-Region have also shared some electoral materials like ballot boxes.

On whether the AAEA could influence elections in member countries, the EC Chairman answered in the negative since each member country was an independent entity and ultimately has the responsibility to determine its electoral system.

However, the AAEA promotes the practices of "Good Electoral Practices". Explaining causes of election-related conflicts on the continent, the EC Chairman said, even though, elections might not give rise to violence, yet it was important to have mechanisms in place for peaceful and fair resolution of electoral conflicts.