Democracy News

Accra Communiqué of the Colloquium on African Elections
January 13, 2010
By: Randi Zung | Printer Friendly

Members of African governments, civil society, election management groups, security groups, and the media gathered in Accra, Ghana from November 12-14 to “access recent elections across the continent and develop recommendations for raising standards of professionalism, improving electoral processes and mitigating election-related conflict.”  In a communiqué from the convened group, they noted that the successful elections of many African countries had greatly strengthened democracy as well as provided positive economic stability and growth.  Most notably, the communiqué also called for African states to ratify the African Union’s Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance.  In addition, the group cited that successful elections had quelled “periods of armed conflict and civil war.”  However, the group further noted that some elections had led to violence and other destructive incidents, resulting in the further division between civil society and governments.

Participants deliberated to determine best practices for facilitating elections and took part in discussions to compare different types of electoral processes.  Following their discussion, the participants identified several factors that were necessary in order to conduct credible elections, which included: “inclusiveness, transparency, integrity, professionalism and accountability.” 

The group also discussed the importance of coordination between governments, civil society, election management groups, security groups, religious leaders and the media in order to help conduct elections that meet everyone’s standards for credibility.  Participants further acknowledged the positive work done by organizations like the African Union, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the East African Community (EAC), and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) for practicing and promoting high standards of conduct during elections.

In conclusion, the group proposed a list of individualized suggestions for African governments, election management bodies, political parties, security services, civil society, domestic and international election monitoring and observer groups, and the media in order to continue to strengthen democracy within the continent, which can be found at the link below.

To view the full list of recommendations, please see:

Accra Communique of the Colloquium on African Elections
http://www.ndi.org/files/Accra_Communique_Colloquium_on_African_Elections.pdf