By Olukayode Idowu
The President of the Economic Community of West African States ( ECOWAS) Commission, Dr Omar Alieu Touray, has deployed an Election Observation Mission of 40 observers to Togo to monitor the legislative and regional elections scheduled for 29 April 2024
According to a statement at the weekend, the mission is in line with the provisions of Article 12 of the ECOWAS Supplementary Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance and constitutes support from the regional organisation to its Member States for the conduct of their elections.
The mission is led by the former Vice-President of The Gambia, Mrs Fatoumata Jallow-Tambajang.
According to the statement, the mission is made up of Ambassadors from Member States accredited to ECOWAS; representatives of the ECOWAS Court of Justice and Parliament; Civil Society Organisations; media professionals and election observation specialists from the West African region.
It revealed that: “This observation mission is being deployed following the recommendations of a pre-election fact-finding mission that visited Togo from 15 to 20 April 2024 to assess the preparatory phases of the elections.
“During its stay in Togo, the observation mission will hold consultations with the main stakeholders in the electoral process and monitor the voting process up to 29 April 2024.”