Guinea Decides: ECOWAS Election Chief Tours Situation Rooms, Monitors Vote Count in Boulbnet, Conakry By Raymond Enoch
As Guineans went to the polls to elect a new president on Sunday, 28 December 2025, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) intensified its oversight of the electoral process, with the Head of its Electoral Observation Mission (EOM), Dr. Abdoulie Janneh, taking centre stage in monitoring key moments of the vote.
Dr. Janneh, accompanied by his Deputy, Senator Lawan Gana Guba, began election day engagements with visits to several situation rooms, including those operated by ECOWAS, the West Africa Network for Peacebuilding (WANEP), and Guinean civil society organisations.
The visits were aimed at receiving real-time updates, statistics, and field reports on the conduct of the election nationwide, as well as assessing early warning signals related to security, logistics, and voter participation.
The situation rooms, which serve as coordination and information hubs, provided the ECOWAS delegation with a broad overview of developments from polling units across the country. Civil society actors briefed the mission on voter turnout trends, adherence to electoral guidelines, and any incidents reported during voting hours.
Later in the evening, Dr. Janneh and Senator Guba moved to the field to observe one of the most critical phases of the electoral process: vote counting. The ECOWAS officials visited two polling stations in the Boulbinet and Almamya districts of Conakry, where they witnessed the formal close of polls and the commencement of ballot counting.
At the polling units, the delegation observed the sealing and opening of ballot boxes, the counting of votes, and the strict application of electoral procedures, all conducted in the presence of ECOWAS observers and representatives of Guinean civil society. The process unfolded transparently, allowing party agents and observers to follow each step as prescribed by electoral regulations.
According to ECOWAS officials, the presence of the regional body at both coordination centres and polling stations underscores its commitment to supporting credible, peaceful, and transparent elections in Guinea. The observations made during voting and counting will contribute to the mission’s preliminary and final reports on the election.
The ECOWAS Electoral Observation Mission is expected to continue its engagements with stakeholders in the post-election period, reinforcing dialogue and confidence in the democratic process as Guinea awaits the official results of the presidential election.
