Netherlands Institute for Multiparty Democracy

For Mali's Centre pour le Dialogue Inter-Partis et la Démocratie (CMDID), the peer to peer exchange provided an unique opportunity to learn more about the set-up up and legal framework of Ghana’s Electoral Commission, including its functions, composition, structural set-up, mandate, overall management process, the code of conduct, its monitoring, their credibility and accountability.

CMDID involved strategic actors from civil society, the media and Mali's constitutional reform committee in its delegation, in order to increase the impact and outreach of the programme.

The exchange visit was very successful, and follow-ups will include the organisation of a television debate and discussion on this topic in Mali's parliament, in order to inform other MPs, and the publication of a study comparing Ghana's Electoral Commission with the proposed body whose responsibility will be the conduct of elections in Mali. 

Established by the Republican President, Mali's constitutional reform committee recently proposed the introduction of an independent electoral commission based on the Ghanaian model, although its mandate and functions will differ in several important respects.

As with the interparty dialogue it facilitated earlier this year, the exchange visit is another example of CMDID's involvement in the reform process in Mali, which it is hoped will lead to a further strengthening of democracy in the country.