Ghana’s Chairperson of the Electoral Commission, Charlotte Osei, has been shortlisted for the prestigious Chatham House Prize.
According to the Director of Chatham House, Dr. Robin Niblett CMG, the nomination of Charlotte Osei was based on her admirable supervision of Ghana’s peaceful and transparent electoral process in December 2016.
A statement from the organizers said, “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.”
The awards event is organized by the Royal Institute of International Affairs (Chatham House) of the United Kingdom to recognize individuals and organizations deemed by Chatham House members to have made the most significant contribution to the improvement of international relations in the previous year.
Mrs. Osei is the only female and the only African to be nominated to the shortlist for the 2017 Prize.
She has been nominated alongside 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.
Previous recipients of the Chatham House Prize include Campaigner and Leader of the National League for Democracy, and former US Secretary ,former President of Ghana, John Agyekum Kufuor, former President of Mozambique, Joaquim Chissano, former President of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, Burmese Democracy 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 winner of the award will be announced at the end of April, 2017. Charlotte Osei, who is Ghana’s first woman to chair the Commission, was heavily criticized for some of the commission’s actions ahead of the polls in December 2016, which was her first major assignment.
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