February 21, 2020
Your Excellencies and Colleague Heads of Mission, distinguished Partners, Ladies and Gentlemen;
Welcome to you all to this very critical meeting which is organized for us to compare notes from our various perspectives, particularly emanating from our interactions with stakeholders, and in view of pertinent issues concerning preparations for tomorrow’s elections.
This meeting should further allow us to harmonize and consolidate our perspectives and to be well informed as we prepare for our major task of Election Day observation. I would therefore urge us all to be frank and forthright in sharing our perspectives on issues we have come across. This forum should further serve as an opportunity to share our observers’ deployment plan so that we can all complement each other, whilst on the field.
Your Excellencies, I think it is the right time, at this juncture, for me to allow colleague Heads of Mission to share observations and discuss issues of concern.
Thank you very much.
The Head of the ECOWAS Election Observation Mission to the Togolese Presidential Election, H.E. Ernest Bai Koroma, former President of the Republic of Sierra Leone, in his welcome address stressed that ECOWAS regularly deploys Election Observation Missions to Member States to ensure that elections, which constitute a significant component of the democratic governance in the Region, are conducted in a fair and credible manner that lead to outcomes which reflect the true will of the citizens.
After the briefing, President Koroma held several meetings with candidates and their representatives from political parties contesting in the election to assess the political situation.
