Ex-President Jonathan Heads Election Observer Mission To Sierra Leone’s Election  

Former President Jonathan

Nigeria’s former President, Goodluck Jonathan, is leading a team of observers to Sierra Leone’s general elections slated for 7 March, 2018.

He is expected to leave for Freetown on Friday as leader of the Election Observation Mission of the Electoral Institute for Sustainable Democracy in Africa (EISA).

According to a statement by Jonathan’s spokesman, Mr. Ikechukwu Eze, the former President would be leading the Mission which has observer drawn from civil society organisations and election management bodies from across the continent.

The statement indicated that Jonathan was pleased to be part of the process “in support of a peaceful and transparent election in Sierra Leone.”

EISA is a not-for-profit election-focused organization that is working with national, regional, Pan-African and global partners throughout the African continent. It is based in South Africa with field offices across the continent and has supported or observed over 100 electoral and political processes in Africa.

A statement from EISA notes that the Mission’s assignment is in line with the organisation’s “vision of an African continent where democratic governance, human rights and citizen participation are upheld in a peaceful environment.”

In this regard, “EISA gives focus to the crucial role that election observation plays in promoting the transparency of electoral processes and lesson learning among nations. Consequently, EISA believes that international observers play a crucially supportive role in increasing public confidence and enhancing the credibility of the electoral process.”

Its work extends beyond electoral support to include other democracy and governance fields such as political party support, legislative strengthening and civil society engagement of the African Peer Review Mechanism.

EISA has current and past field offices in countries like Burundi, Central African Republic (CAR), Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Gabon, Kenya, Madagascar, Mozambique, Rwanda, Somalia, Sudan, Zambia and Zimbabwe. This reflects its broader geographical mandate and coverage.