EC Chairperson To Receive Chatham House Prize

Mrs Charlotte Osei, Chairperson of the Electoral Commission (EC) has been shortlisted for the prestigious 2017 Chatham House Prize to be awarded by the Royal Institute of International Affairs (Chatham House) of the United Kingdom.

A statement issued by Mr Eric Kofi Dzakpasu, the Head of Communications of the EC, and copied to the Ghana News Agency on Tuesday said the Commission was delighted to make the announcement.

The statement said according to the Director of Chatham House, Dr Robin Niblett CMG, the nomination of Mrs Osei was based on her admirable supervision of Ghana’s peaceful and transparent electoral process in December 2016.

“The recent election consolidated Ghana’s 24-year long democratic trajectory and was norm setting for Africa, the Commonwealth and beyond; your tireless efforts throughout 2016 were central to this success,” according to Chatham House.

It said Mrs Osei was the only female and the only African to be nominated to the shortlisted 2017 Prize nominees.

It noted that other nominees were Mr Juan Manuel Santos, President of Colombia, for formally ratifying a peace agreement with the FARC rebel group and bringing an end to the war in Colombia; and Mr Jens Stoltenberg, Secretary-General of NATO, for steering NATO through one of the most complicated periods in its recent history.

It said past recipients of the Chatham House Prize include; former President of Ghana, John Agyekum Kufuor, former President of Mozambique, Joaquim Chissano, former President of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva,

Others were Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, Burmese Democracy Campaigner and Leader of the National League for Democracy and, former US Secretary of State and Democratic Presidential candidate in last November’s US elections, Mrs Hillary Clinton; and former US Secretary of State Mr John Kerry.

The statement said final winner of the award would be announced at the end of April, 2017.