[ 2016-12-06 ]

IDEG trains 1,170 election observers
The Institute for Democratic Governance (IDEG) has
begun the training of more than 1,000 election
observers across the country to equip them with
the needed knowledge and skills of reporting
voting proceeding during the elections.

The Institute would deploy election observers on
the field across its ten regional situation rooms
to report back on the details of the voting
processes including the collation of the results.

Mrs Diana Oppong, Programmes Officer at IDEG said
the training was part of the Institutes capacity
building for election observers before elections
to monitor and report situation on the field of
voting for necessary action if need be.

Mrs Oppong noted that the exercise was important
for participants to be aware on what to expect on
the voting day and what voters are expected to do
when exercising their franchise and that the
Institute had organised similar training in 2008
and 2012 prior to the elections.

“The training equipped them with the needed
information, to give feedback with credible,
adequate information and for the national election
situation room to have enough adequate information
to act on”, she explained.

She said the exercise helps to engage a state
institution on an anomaly occurring at a
particular polling station and that information
receive from the ground could helped authorities
to take the needed action.

“We have hotlines that we give out during the
operations of the civil society election’s
situation room. Each region has its hotline, and
the national election situation room has its
hotline which the observers on the field have
access to and can call to report on any
anomalies”.

She said IDEG's intervention was geared to ensure
transparent, peaceful and credible election
outcomes as well build the confidence of state
election institutions for peaceful election.

Major General Nii Carl Coleman (Rtd), the Chairman
of Civic Forum Institute, said information on the
field was critical in educating them on best
strategies to use for subsequent elections, saying
the exercise had become a model used in African
countries.

He urged the observers to be circumspect and give
accurate information, adding that any
misinformation could cause disturbances which
could mar the success of the elections.

He appealed to stakeholders to be decorum in the
discharge of their duties and avoid intemperate
language during the elections to ensure peaceful
polls.

Source - GNA

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