ECOWAS Deploys 40 Observers for the National Assembly Election in The Gambia

Banjul, The Gambia, April 7, 2022.                   

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has deployed forty observers for the ECOWAS Election Observation Mission (ECOWAS-EOM) to the National Assembly Election in The Gambia. The observers were deployed today, April 7, 2022, in Banjul, ahead of the April 9, 2022, Parliamentary Elections.

As part of the ECOWAS electoral support to Member States, H.E. Jean-Claude Kassi Brou, the President of the ECOWAS Commission, approved the deployment of forty (40) short-term election observers (STOs) to The Gambia to support and monitor the entire electoral process.

While thanking the Observers for their sacrifices, Dr Remi Ajibewa, Director of Political Affairs, ECOWAS Commission, highlighted that the ECOWAS electoral assistance to its Member States finds its justification in ECOWAS Supplementary Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance of 2001 and the commitment of the Authority of Heads of State and Government to the timely deployment of pre-electoral missions and observations in the member states organizing elections.

The Head of the ECOWAS Election Observation Mission to the National Assembly Election in The Gambia, H.E. Dr. Mohamed Ibn Chambas, former President of the ECOWAS Commission, in his welcome address highlighted that ECOWAS regularly deploys Election Observation Missions to Member States to ensure that elections are conducted in peaceful atmosphere for the consolidation of peace and security in the region.

“I am fully aware of the high stakes involved in these elections, the obstacles crossed, the sacrifices made, and the challenges encountered. It is therefore imperative that we succeed in our Mission to ensure that this process is transparent, free, fair, credible, peaceful, and inclusive. We wish to have an inclusive and competitive process that will lead to the acceptance of the verdict of the ballots by all candidates” he added.

H.E. Dr. Chambas, Head of the ECOWAS Observation Mission, to assess the level of preparedness for the election visited the Speaker of the National Assembly, Independent Electoral Commission (IEC), the West Africa Network for Peacebuilding (WANEP) and the Inter-Party Committee (IPC) for consultations.

The observers were deployed to the seven (7) administrative regions of the country. ECOWAS has extended support to the democratic process in The Gambia and is committed to accompanying the government and the people through the Parliamentary Elections.