The Ghanaian delegates arrived at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport at 0505 hours local time. After passing through immigration and custom formalities, which were quite smooth, we were welcomed by the staff of Nairobi Hilton who took us to the hotel in Central Nairobi. Getting into our separate rooms on the second floor, we had a little nap as we experienced a little jet lag. Accra's time is three hours behind Nairobi's time.
By 0830 hours, we came down to Tsavo Room in the hotel, the venue for the conference/elections. After the conclusion of registration formalities, we were ushered into the main hall where some delegates were already seated. April 17, 2008 was meant for elections by Ghana, Nigeria, Mali, Guinea Conakry and the West African Sub-region delegates, which were the last of the elections. The composite elections were held to select two civil society representatives from each African country that have not conducted elections already for the Permanent Assembly of the Economic, Social and Cultural Council (ECOSOCC) of the African Union (AU). Other countries that held their elections on April 15, 2008 were: South Africa, Uganda, Zambia and Southern Africa sub-region. On April 16, 2008, Burundi, Congo Brazzaville, Democratic Republic of Congo and Madagascar conducted their elections.
Ghana was represented by four organisations out of the six invited. The organisations and their representatives were: Christian Volunteer Service International (CVSI) - Member of Electoral College represented by Pastor Joseph Brenyah, Hatof Foundation - Candidate and Member of Electoral College represented by Samuel Confidence Dotse, Free World Foundation - Member of Electoral College represented by Rashid Anyetei Odoi and Green Earth Organisation (GEO) - Member of Electoral College represented by George Ahadzie. Those who could not attend were: Women in Law and Development (WILDAF) - Candidate and Member of Electoral College represented by Ms. Bernice Sam and Diaspora African Forum Mission (DAF) - Member of Electoral College represented by Mrs. Eneka Bennet. On account of the swearing in of the new Kenyan Prime Minister and cabinet, activities were rescheduled for the morning and early afternoon to enable the ECOSOCC and AU officials to attend the ceremony. Hon. Prof. Maathai Wangari, the Presiding Officer of the Interim Assembly of the Economic, Social and Cultural Council of the African Union gave a brief press statement which outlined why we were gathered that day and the elections that were held on the other two days. Dr. Jinmi Adisa, Director of the African Union Citizens Directorate of the African Union also addressed the gathering briefly. With a briefing on the Election Guidelines over, Elections by Ghana commenced after a remark by Mr. Samuel Dotse, a candidate. Hatof Foundation and Women in Law were elected as representatives of Ghana.
Mali, Guinea Conakry, Nigeria and the West Africa sub-region followed suit. Nigeria had a very large delegation and consultations were held to get delegates to vote two delegates smoothl;y without any run-off. The Kenyan Electoral Commission certified the results and handed them to the Officials of the AU. Closing remarks were made by the Director of AU-CIDO and the Presidng Officer of the Interim ECOSOCC Assembly before Vote of Thanks by Mr. Akere T. Muna. Lunch followed immediately afterwards and the delegates had a nice time interacting with each other. More thumbnails ...
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