Pan-African Parliament election observers arrive

Pan-African Parliament Election Observers have arrived in Ghana for the Presidential Election Runoff scheduled for Sunday December 28 2008.
     The 21-man team, headed by Janguo Athumani Saidi, Chairperson of the Committee on Rural Economy, Agriculture, National Resources and Environment, is in the country at the invitation of the Electoral Commission (EC).
     The mission was deployed in Ghana during the December 7 elections.
     Mr Athumani Saidi told the media in Accra on Thursday that while in Ghana the observers would be briefed and addressed by the Ghanaian Electoral stakeholders.
     They would be deployed to all the 10 regions on Friday, December 26 where they would meet with electoral stakeholders including electoral officials, civil society organizations and representatives of political parties and the media.
     Members of the mission would observe voting and counting at polling stations and return to Accra on December 29, 2008 to attend a debriefing session and to assess the electoral process.
     The mission would deliver an interim assessment statement at a press conference on December 30, and its members would begin to depart for their various countries on December 31 2008.
     Mr Athumani Saidi said the Pan-African Parliament would continue to monitor the process until the finalization of the election results, after which the mission would present its final report and final assessment of the Ghana's presidential and parliamentary elections.
GNA