According to Dr Omar Alieu Touray, the President of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the regional bloc has provided significant financial support towards the conduct of elections in member states, including Sierra Leone.
The amount spent on this initiative runs into millions of dollars, with Sierra Leone receiving $500,000 specifically for the 2023 elections. This support is aimed at ensuring that the electoral processes in member states are conducted freely, fairly, and transparently, thereby promoting democracy and stability in the region.
He disclosed this in Nigeria at the maiden weekly press briefing of the ECOWAS Commission.
According to Touray, ECOWAS, the Economic Community of West African States, is a significant partner to member states during election processes. In fact, during elections, ECOWAS provides financial assistance to member states, with an average of $1 million spent per election. This financial assistance is aimed at supporting member states and ensuring that the election process is conducted freely, fairly, and transparently.
The speaker stated that their organization provides direct support to election commissions. They give grants and ensure that the election processes are observed and certified. The speaker also mentioned that their organization was involved in several election processes across different countries in the previous year.
For instance, they participated in Nigeria's election and supported ECOWAS. Similarly, they offered their services in the parliamentary elections in Senegal and Sierra Leone as well as Liberia. Their involvement in these election processes was aimed at ensuring that the elections were conducted transparently and met international standards.
According to his explanation, it is the policy of the regional body to provide a grant of $500,000 to each member of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to support the conduct of elections. In addition to this grant, the regional bloc also bears the cost of deploying observers and logistics, which amounts to over $500,000.
This move is aimed at ensuring that the electoral process is fair, transparent, peaceful and credible and that the people are allowed to exercise their democratic right to vote without fear or intimidation. According to him, ECOWAS is also spending considerable resources on fighting terrorism in the region while a major intervention is ongoing in maritime security.
“We have stabilization forces in the Gambia and Guinea Bissau while another mission is at the preparatory stage for Sierra Leone. These preventive deployments of regional stabilization forces are vital for the security and welfare of citizens and the community market.
“Only democratic governments can reasonably provide human liberty and dignity. We continue to maintain peace, and support missions in Member States where they are required.”
Touray, a representative of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), recently shared in a statement that the organization is taking significant steps towards addressing the various challenges that hinder the smooth movement of persons, goods, and services within the community. This move is aimed at improving the implementation of ECOWAS' flagship protocol, which seeks to create an economic union among its 15 member countries.
Touray further explained that the community is actively working on building and interconnecting regional infrastructure and policies to enable physical integration. Some of the infrastructure being developed includes railways, highways, and airways. In particular, the Abidjan-Lagos corridor road project is being extended to connect Abidjan and Praia via The Gambia, Guinea Bissau, Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Liberia.
This project is significant as the corridor is the busiest economic route in the region and is expected to facilitate trade and commerce between the member states. The project is also expected to create several employment opportunities, boost tourism, and improve the standard of living for the people living in the region.
On energy, Dr Touray said major projects are being unfolded while a regional energy market has been developed under the aegis of the West African Power Pool which coordinates the sale and purchase of electricity. He further added that electricity projects have been developed some of which link Benin, Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire, Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Togo.