The ECOWAS Community Court of Justice is to deploy an early warning committee to Ghana to monitor the country’s preparations towards the 2024 general elections.
The committee would assess infractions of electoral laws and the regional election provisions as part of ECOWAS existing pre-election protocol and regulations.
The Head of Legal Services and Research of the Community Court of Justice, Apraku Nketiah, who made this known in Accra yesterday, said the committee would arrive in the coming months.
Interacting with journalists after the opening of a sensitisation mission of the court, he said committee would visit other countries scheduled to go to the polls this year.
“Once there’s an election, the early warning team will come. Followed by some monitoring team. And then we invite also memoranda from stakeholders. If they think that part of our rules of engagement are not being properly harnessed or being abused, the court is there to receive such petitions and deal with it,” he said.
The week-long mission by a delegation from the ECOWAS Court, which started on Sunday aims to create public awareness about the work of the court to citizens of member countries.
The delegation has since embarked on media tours, interacted with law students, visited the Attorney General’s office, held consultations with some stakeholders and would meet the Ghana Bar Association (GBA) before the mission ends.
Mr Nketiah said the court was ready to handle petitions from parties and individual who would compete in the upcoming elections, assuring that cases would be handled in accordance with ECOWAS provisions on elections.
“There are so many provisions that regulate the conduct of elections in member countries. And trust me, if they (petitions) are brought before the court, we will try to make sure that respect is given to those provisions for the benefit of the citizens of the community,” he noted.
Mr Nketiah said the court was still relevant because it had been resolving many issues across the region with issues concerning a former president of Sierra Leone, currently pending before the court.
Concerning constitutional beeches in the West African sub region, he said the court, like national courts, could only handle cases that were brought before it.
Mr Nketiah said while the court had distinguished itself in cases brought before it, “there’s one problem. When the court gives the judgment, it is up to the political leaders to implement. And if without the implementation of the court judgment, the mischief that the applicant who came to court want to avoid will still be there.
A Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Kwaku Ampratwum-sarpong, indicated that since the court was established in 1991, it had upheld rule of law, promoted human rights, resolved disputes amongst member states and championed legal harmonisation and regional integration.
He said Ghana had supported the court’s activities by adhering to its directives and regulations, a trend that would continue due to the country’s belief in rule of law.
BY JONATHAN DONKOR
