The Ghanaian Speaker of Parliament, Professor Mike Oquaye, is calling for the establishment of a West African Electoral Commission to oversee elections in the sub-region, supervised by the Economic Community Of West African States (ECOWAS).

According to him, if the region was able to collaborate in establishing a military force such as ECOMOG to deal with various situations of instability in the past, it should not be difficult to form a body to supervise elections in member countries. The Speaker said this at the 2018 University Of Ghana Alumni Lecture on the theme: Strengthening democracy and good governance in contemporary Ghana: Some Challenges.

“A baby suggestion of mine; I am proposing a West Africa Electoral Commission to cater for all elections in West Africa under the auspices of ECOWAS. If we can cooperate to fight wars, which spring out of electoral conflicts, we should be able to cooperate effectively to prevent conflicts. We recommend the following: If we can have the West African Exams Council, why can’t we have West Africa electoral council?”

He also recommended a common voters’ register for West Africans where “every name will appear only once.”

Prof. Oquaye said the proposed electoral body should also be in charge of ensuring that there are adequate ballot boxes, ink and other materials for every election in West Africa, since the elections were held on different dates in member countries, adding that the sub-regional electoral body should assist with the registration of voters throughout the area and come up with a register common to the countries.

He went on to note that the proposed West African Electoral Commission could also formulate rules and regulations, as well as apply global best practices in every election in West Africa, while helping in the establishment of electoral courts to punish criminal and civil matters.

“It will deal with any matter, which will promote transparency and confidence in all electoral practices in West Africa,” he declared.