Ahead of Liberia’s Presidential and Legislative elections scheduled for 10 October 2023, the African Union Election Observation Mission (AU EOM), on Saturday, 7 October 2023, deployed 25 teams to nine out of the15 counties across the country, to begin mapping the polling precincts and to meet with key electoral stakeholders.
The deployment follows the conclusion of a three-day briefing and orientation programme for the observers from 3 – 5 October 2023.
The Mission comprises 60 observers led by former South African Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, member of the AU Panel of the Wise, and supported by Commissioner Bankole Adeoye of the AU Commission’s Political Affairs, Peace and Security Department. The observers are drawn from AU Member States, Pan African Parliament, the Civil Society Organizations, and Independent Electoral Experts, as well as Election Management Bodies in Africa, among others.
Importantly, the Mission Head has received briefings from the AU technical teams on the state of preparedness, deployment plan and current political and electoral developments in Liberia. She has also engaged several stakeholders, including the National Elections Commission (NEC), Local Civil Society Organizations, the Economic Community of Western African States (ECOWAS) other International Observer Mission in Liberia, and the Electoral Institute for Sustainable Democracy in Africa (EISA), to share and exchange pre-elections updates.
The mission leadership will continue to engage the incumbent President, George Manneh Weah, some of the presidential candidates contesting in these elections, and other key electoral stakeholders in Liberia.
The AU began its engagements in Liberia’s electoral process in July 2023, with the deployment of a joint pre-election assessment mission with ECOWAS, to assess the state of preparedness and the context in which the elections will take place.
The Mission which was launched on 1 October 2023, will be on the ground until 15 October 2023. About 8,000 local, regional and international observers are participating in Liberia’s elections, including ECOWAS, EISA, European Union (EU), Brenthurst Foundation and ECOWAS Network of Electoral Commissions (ECONEC), as part of the regional and international election observer missions.
