The African Union Commission (AUC) announces the arrival of an electoral observation mission for the Presidential election of 11th October 2015 in the Republic of Guinea. Following the official invitation of the Government, the African Union Commission Chairperson, H.E Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, deployed an African Union Election Observation Mission to monitor and report on the electoral process. 

The African Union Election Observation Mission (AUEOM) is led by H.E Dileita Mohamed Dileita, former Prime Minister of the Republic of Djibouti. The Mission comprises 30 observers including Permanent representatives to the African Union in Addis Ababa, members of the Pan-African Parliament, representatives of Elections Management Bodies and members of the civil society in Africa. 

Observers are from 18 countries, representing the geographic diversity of the continent, namely Algeria, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Cabo Verde, Cameroon, Central Africa Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Gabon, Guinea Bissau, Mauritania, Niger, Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, Senegal, Tunisia and Zambia.

The Mission’s mandate is to observe this Presidential election in line with relevant African Union instruments, especially the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance adopted in 2007 and which entered into force in 2012, the AU/OAU Declaration on the Principles Governing Democratic Elections in Africa, the 2002 African Union Guidelines for Election Observation and Monitoring Missions, the 2005 Declaration of Principles for International Election Observation as well as the legal framework in force for the organization of the Presidential Election in the Republic of Guinea. 

The observers will monitor closely the last days of the electoral campaign, the polling as well as the counting processes. 

The mission will be present in all the electoral divisions of Guinea and ensure a fair, independent, objective and impartial observation of the electoral process and will mainly focus on the lawfulness, transparency and equity of the process.

As part of its activities, the Mission will meet with relevant stakeholders involved in the organization of this Election, including representatives of Government, security officials, the Independent Electoral Commission, leaders of Political parties, media, representatives of civil society organizations and international community in Guinea. The AUEOM will work in collaboration with similar observation missions deployed in the Republic of Guinea.

The Mission will release its preliminary statement on the 13th October 2015, to present its first conclusions on the polling and formulate, if necessary, some recommendations to the stakeholders involved in the electoral process in Guinea. The recommendations will be based on the principles equity, transparency and reliability in line with the different normative frameworks mentioned earlier. A final report will provide a more comprehensive evaluation of the electoral process. 

The Mission has its secretariat at Mariador Palace in Conakry. For more information, please contact the AUEOM coordinator Ms. Karine Kakasi Siaba. E-mail: Kakasik@africa-union.org, Tel: +224 660 98 12 25.

The African Union Election Observation Mission expresses its gratitude to the authorities of the Republic of Guinea for the invitation and for the arrangements made to facilitate its work.  

Conakry, 06th October 2015

On behalf of the Mission,

H.E Mr. Dileita Mohamed Dileita

Head of Mission