The Head of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Election Observation Mission, to monitor the legislative and regional elections scheduled for 29 April 2024 in Togo, held a briefing session on Saturday 27 April 2024 in Lomé with the forty (40) observers of the said mission.

The former Gambian Vice-President, Mrs Fatoumata Jallow-Tambajang, urged them to conduct themselves professionally and objectively in the field. “We are here to monitor the election, not to give instructions or dictate things”, she advised.

She advocated for a peaceful conduct of the legislative and regional elections of 29 April 2024, which she said should contribute to the development and prosperity of Togo.

Mrs Fatoumata Jallow-Tambajang used the occasion of the briefing to commend the large number of women among the Ecowas observers deployed in Togo, and the crucial role played by the West African organisation in the inclusion of women in leadership and in all professional spheres in West Africa. Her appointment as the 1st woman to head an Election Observation Mission for ECOWAS is a clear example. She expressed her gratitude to ECOWAS for choosing her.

This briefing session enabled the ECOWAS Observers to learn more about the objectives of their mission, the socio-political and security situation as well as the electoral operations in Togo, not forgetting the observation methodology and the plan for their deployment in the field. ECOWAS Observers are deployed in the Greater Lomé Autonomous District and in the country’s five (5) regions: Maritime, Plateau, Central, Kara and Savane.

At the end of the briefing session, Mrs Fatoumata Jallow-Tambajang paid a courtesy call on the President of Togo’s Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Dago Yabre. Civic education for voters and the communication strategy put in place by the INEC to ensure a smooth and successful election were at the centre of discussions between the two heads.

In the afternoon, she attended an information session on the preparations and conduct of the legislative and regional elections of 29 April 2024, organised jointly by the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Local Government, Security and INEC.