2020 elections will be transparent, credible – Ayorkor Botchwey

Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey has assured the international community that President Akufo-Addo's Government will ensure that Ghana’s upcoming Presidential and Parliamentary elections in December 2020 will be free, fair, transparent and credible.

The Minister made the remark during a meeting with the speaker of the Turkish parliament, His Excellency Mustafa Sentop and the Turkish parliamentary friendship association as part of activities marking an Official two-day Visit to the European Country from 12th to 13th January, 2020.

Ghana is amongst a host of about ten West African countries holding their presidential elections this year with many questions on whether or not the nation will pass the litmus test on its democratic credentials by holding peaceful general elections for the eighth time in the history of the fourth republic.

However, in her interactions with the leadership of the Turkish legislature Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey was of the view that the country had “strong and striving institutions” such as Parliament working to consolidate the gains made over the years since the country adopted multi- party democracy, a situation she believes both Ghana and Turkey share in common.

Meanwhile the minister has also called for Turkish support to build the capacities of Ghanaian Parliamentarians to deliver optimally and help build a strong institution for the benefit of their citizenry who they represent, and to continue to serve as an example to other Afrcian countries; while recalling that President Tayyip Reccep Erdogan addressed Ghana's Parliament during his official visit to the country in 2016, which was the first time a Turkish President addressed a Parliament in Sub-Saharan Africa, and noted that it was a testament to the deepening relations between not just the two institutions but, more importantly the two countries.

The Minister who doubles as Member of Parliament for Anyaa Sowutuom also lauded the founders of the Ghana-Turkey Parliamentary Association, which was birthed on 21st March, 2011 and underscored its importance as a mechanism to deepen relations between the two legislatures.