Election Monitoring: The edge of using nationals

Election observation in a country by its own citizens has several advantages; unlike when it is done by foreigners who tend to come for short periods and do not understand certain local realities.

It is within such a context that Elections Cameroon, ELECAM, and the International Organisation of the Francophonie, OIF, have since Tuesday, November 11, 2014, been holding a workshop at the Yaounde Hilton Hotel.

Speaking on the training, ELECAM Electoral Board Chair, Dr. Fonkam Azu, said it was to share best practices, and promote peer learning and support on election observer missions by monitors in their own countries.

According to him, having elections monitored by nationals is advantageous because they live in the country and are often in much larger numbers than their foreign counterparts. Moreover, foreign observers come only for short periods and cover few polling stations.

Some do not stay back until the announcement of election results. If national election observers network, they can cover the whole territory and even all polling stations, Dr Fonkam pointed out.

Nationals do long-term observation and are therefore in a position to see what happens before elections; and not just a few days to polling. They can monitor the process of voter registration and distribution of cards, which foreigners cannot do – even if they were on long-term observer missions, he observed.