Jean Mensa, the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission, has been re-elected as the President of the Association of African Electoral Authorities (AAEA), a body made up of Election Management Bodies (EMBs) in Africa.
She was elected at the Sixth Continental Forum of EMBs recently held jointly by the AAEA and the Department of Political Affairs (DPA) of the African Union Commission (AUC) in Nairobi, Kenya.
The Forum, which assembled 55 EMBs, who are African Union (AU) member states, was on the theme: “Enhancing Participation of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and Refugees in Elections in Africa: Towards More Inclusive Electoral Processes.”
In an address following her re-election, Mrs. Mensa said she would, together with all stakeholders, take the necessary steps to ensure that the Secretariat functioned effectively and played the co-ordination role expected of it.
She said the AAEA would begin with the strengthening of the Association by increasing the number of staff, explore ways of guaranteeing financial sustainability, visibility, and accountability.
“Beyond this, we look forward to building an association, which stands in unity to safeguard the interests of its members. An association whose members are bound to a collective agreement of ensuring credible, transparent and violent-free elections in their respective countries,” Mrs. Mensa said.
“It will be the body that will condemn corruption in any form and hold its members accountable to the agreements and charters signed”.
As initial steps toward achieving the goals, she disclosed that the Secretariat would work with stakeholders to commission the development of a website to serve as the gateway to the Association and give visibility to AAEA’s activities.
She said the Government had allocated an office space to the AAEA Secretariat in Accra to enable it to function.
Mrs. Mensa urged stakeholders to support the Association to become a viable entity to serve as a one-stop-shop for elections in Africa and beyond.