Praia — An 80-member ECOWAS Observer Mission has been deployed for the 7th August 2011 presidential elections in Cape Verde. Mr. David Adenze Kangah, the Deputy Chairman of Ghana's Electoral Commission will head the mission which includes representatives of the ECOWAS Parliament, the ECOWAS Court of Justice, electoral experts from ECOWAS Member States and civil society organizations and representatives of ECOWAS Ambassadors.They will observe the elections in all the nine habitable islands of the country. The observer mission is expected to meet with the National Electoral Commission, government officials, security agencies, diplomatic missions and civil society organizations to exchange views on issues relating to the elections.

In mid-July 2011, Mr. Kangah had led a fact-finding mission to the country, in accordance with the ECOWAS mandate ECOWAS observer missions are carried out as part of the Institution's determination to ensure democratic convergence across the region and in compliance with the provisions of the 2001 ECOAWS Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance, which is supplementary to the Protocol relating to the Mechanism on Conflict Prevention, Management, Resolution, Peacekeeping and Security. The Protocol mandates ECOWAS to assist Member States in organizing or monitoring elections.