Free and fair elections are the backbone of a consolidated democracy, Mr Hans-Helge Sander, the German Deputy Ambassador to Ghana has stated.

He said elections that were fraudulent could and had caused conflicts in many countries on the African continent; stating that “therefore, election observation is no doubt a very crucial tool for conflict prevention”.

Mr Sander said this on Monday, in his opening remarks at the Economic Community of West African States/Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (ECOWAS/KAIPTC) Pilot Course on Long-Term Election Observation in Accra.

The course, which is being financed by the German Government, is being attended by 30 participants from the West Africa sub-region.

Given the fact that democratic elections are the bedrock of democracy and nation building, the essence of elections cannot be over-emphasized.

The ECOWAS, realizing the lack of long-term election observers in the region and the absence of required capacity to groom them appropriately, is partnering KAIPTC to equip selected participants with the requisite knowledge and understanding of election observation methodology for assessing pre–election, election and post-election periods.

Mr Sander said the German Government was supporting ECOWAS in democratic consolidation and the reinforcement of peace and security in the West African sub-region and beyond by strengthening ECOWAS.

“ECOWAS has been supporting member states in the preparation of credible elections by providing financial and technical support as stated in the supplementary protocol on Democracy and Good Governance (2001) and ECOWAS Conflict Prevention Framework (ECPF) 2008,” he said.

“This technical support includes election observation by qualified personnel,” the Deputy Ambassador added.

He said ECOWAS’ election observers were deployed to all countries in the region to observe and monitor the pre-election, electoral and post-electoral operations and to report on the outcome of the elections.

He said the observation was generally on the regularity, transparency, equity and smooth conduct of legislative and presidential elections.

Mr Sander cited the recent elections observed by ECOWAS to include – Nigeria (2015), Ghana (2016), Cape Verde (2016), The Gambia (2017); adding that ECOWAS would also be observing the upcoming election in Liberia later this year.

He said although ECOWAS had a good capacity for short term election observation, it needs to build more capacity for Long-Term Election Observers (LTO).

“The role of LTOs is very crucial in the election process as they gather, analyse, and report election-related information and findings from their deployment stations. They also prepare the ground for the deployment of Short-Term Election Observers (STOs),” he said.

“An STO is deployed for a limited period of time and therefore, the work of the LTO is crucial in maximizing the STO contribution by providing a thorough briefing, debriefing and necessary logistical support. LTO’s therefore, require a broad array of analytical and organisation skills.”

Mr Sander mentioned that with the support of the German Government, ECOWAS had established an Election Observation Mission Database.

He said with the Database, ECOWAS manages a pool of election experts for effective and efficient deployment for election observation missions.

On collaboration between Germany and the KAIPTC, Mr Sander said, the German Government had supported the KAIPTC financially and technically since its inception in 2003 in a wide range of areas.

The Deputy Commandant of the KAIPTC, Brigadier General Dr Emmanuel Kotia, said democratic elections were the indispensable root of democracy and had become imperative for assessing national security, political stability and socio-economic development.

“For elections to have integrity, it must not only be conducted by election management bodies with full independence in a professional, non-partisan and transparent manner, but also be certified free, fair and credible by election observers,” Brig Gen Kotia stated.

“As a result, election observation regimes have become an important element in promoting transparency,” he added.

He said: “On its part, KAIPTC as an ECOWAS Training Centre of Excellence will continue to remain at the cutting edge of efforts at building the capacity of citizens from within West Africa and beyond, by providing them with training that will equip them with the necessary skills”.

Mr Francis Oke, the Head, Electoral Assistance Division (EAD), ECOWAS, said the Commission had decided to establish the LTO training programme to professionalise their election monitoring and observation.

He said the training programme would equip the participants in areas such as tender processes, election operations,legal and security matters.