Gorée Institute

Scope of countries

For specific information on individual countries, please visit the country pages below

·         Benin

·         Burkina Faso

·         Cape Verde

·         Côte D’Ivoire

·         Gambia

·         Ghana

·         Guinea

·         Guinea-Bissau

·         Liberia

·         Mali

·         Niger

·         Nigeria

·         Senegal

·         Sierra Leone

·         Togo

 

Welcome to the Regional Centre page for the region of Western Africa. This page is facilitated by Goree Institute, an associated member of the ACE network. Here you will find updated information about the region, such as electoral news, case studies and election-related links. To access this material, use the menus to the right. If you need information about other regions, select another Regional Centre from the drop-down menu on the left side.

Regional events

ACE REGIONAL CENTERS' WORKSHOP

  30 June - 4 July 2008 (Gorée Island, Senegal)

 The purpose of this workshop is to assess the activities carried out by the Regional Centres since the 2007 ACE Workshop, to discuss the regionalisation process of the ACE Electoral Knowledge Network and the way forward for 2009.   

 The ACE workshop proper will last three-days and will be preceded by a two-day BRIDGE showcase (www.bridge-project.com) to introduce participants to BRIDGE values and objectives and identify ways for future BRIDGE courses hosted by ACE regional centres. Throughout the workshop discussions will be facilitated by representatives from the Regional Centres as well as the ACE Partners.

Trends and key issues in West Africa

- Guinea - Project of law establishing a  new Idependent Electoral commission adopted by all stakeholders

On october 17th 2007, all stakeholders adopted the project of law establishing a new IEC, in order to have transparent and fair elections.

- Cautions in Senegalese elections

During the 2007 elections in Senegal, it was mandatory for candidates to pay a caution of 25 000 000 FCFA (38,112 euros) in order to run for presidential elections. The caution for parliamentary elections was 15 000 000 FCFA (22,867) to be paid by the political parties. These cautions were reimbursed upon having 5 per cent of the total votes.

- Participation rates in elections are decreasing

(i.e. Benin, Mali, Burkina, Senegal) says François Soudan.

- Many elections are characterized by a massive boycott

- Should voting be compulsory or not?

President Abdoulaye Wade of Sénégal states :"making voting compulsory is not an option we want to take, but the citizens must know that every citizen must vote."

- Electoral reform is being initiated in Nigeria.

A panel has been appointed by the president to conduct electoral reform.

Regional Election Spotlight

Forthcoming elections

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Recent elections

TOGO |  Legislative

October 14, 2007

The legislative elections in Togo saw the victory of the ruling party. Overall, stakeholders have agreed that the vote was well organised. Here

SIERRA LEONE |General elections

September 8, 2007

SECOND ROUND RUN OFFs in Presidential

It's official !!Ernest Bai Koroma has won the presidential election and led the All People's Congress to power in Sierra Leone.Here

The opposition wins the August 11 parliamentary elections.The final results of the parliamentary elections have been published by the NEC. SLPP wins 43 seats, APC wins 59 seats, PMDC wins 10 seats. The other political parties win no seats. Find out more about the parliamentary elections. Here

Mali | legislative 2nd round

July 22, 2007

Information about the Mali election will be found.Here