Civil Society Organisations coalition

In the countdown to the January 24 local government elections, the national coalition of civil society organisations has confirmed that it will deploy 120 members across the country to observe Thursday's polls.

The coalition, which is being coordinated by the West African Network for Peace-building (WANEP) Country Office, has begun a series of refresher training for members of the civil society organisations in various regions with the support of UNDP.

In the Kanifing Municipality, the coalition on Thursday, conducted refresher training for about 30 of its members with focus on the lessons of the last National Assembly elections at the YMCA Headquarters in Kanifing. Simultaneous trainings in other regions which started last week, ended yesterday ahead of the closure of campaigns on January 22.

Participants were retrained on the principles of election observation and overview of the Local Government Act - role of CSOs in election observation, voting process, data collection, analysis and reporting, security and safety, amongst other pertinent matters. Participants then pledged to conduct their exercise as required by the terms set out for election observers, notably fairness, objectivity, honesty and impartiality.

Meanwhile, the coalition, which participated remarkably in the presidential and National Assembly elections, described the exercise as a continuity of what was started two years ago.

"This means that civil society organisations are now actors in the democratisation process and they are assisting the IEC to ensure a free, fair and transparent elections. We are committed to accompanying the IEC to achieve successful elections in the country," the coalition said.

The coalition emphasised the importance of local government elections in the march towards development. Expressing concerns with the low voter turnout in the National Assembly elections, the coalition called on the electorate to come out in full force and exercise their civic duty.

The CSO coalition used the opportunity to thank the UNDP and IEC for supporting and facilitating its participation in the country's electoral process.