Despite the Pandemic COVID -19, Millions of Africans have started holding elections to elect Leaders in some Countries.
This year there will be presidential, and in some cases also parliamentary elections, in Burkina Faso, Burundi, Central African Republic, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, Niger, Seychelles, Tanzania, and Togo.
Parliamentary elections will also take place in Chad, Mali, Ethiopia, Cameroon, Comoros, Egypt, Somalia, Liberia, and Gabon.
Presidential elections were held in Togo on 22 February 2020. Incumbent president Faure Gnassingbé of the Union for the Republic (UPR) was re-elected for his fourth term with 71% of the vote in the first round.
Parliamentary elections were held in Mali on 29 March 2020, with a second-round on 19 April. They were initially scheduled to be held on 25 November and 16 December 2018, but were moved to April 2019 and then to June 2019, before being postponed.
General elections are scheduled to be held in Burkina Faso on 22 November 2020 to elect the President and National Assembly.
The Central African Republic has announced that the presidential election will be held on Sunday, December 27, 2020.
In Burkina Faso, former Prime Minister Kadré Désiré Ouédraogo is running for president in October. The 66-year-old Ouédraogo will challenge current president Roch Marc Christian Kaboré who is running for re-election. Both men were close associates of former president Blaise Compaoré.
In Côte d’Ivoire, presidential elections will be held on Oct. 31. Incumbent president Alassane Ouattara has served two five-year terms (2010 – 2020) in office. If he abides by the constitutional provisions, he will not seek a third term.
Parliamentary elections were held in Guinea on 22 March 2020 alongside a constitutional referendum, after being postponed four times from the original date of January 2019.
General elections are scheduled to be held in Niger on 27 December 2020 to elect the President and National Assembly.
The presidential election in Seychelles will take place between September and November 2020 according to the Elections Act, said the chairperson of the Electoral Commission, Danny Lucas, and the official date is expected to be announced in August.
In Chad and Mauritius, electoral commissions have yet to decide on exact dates, but absent unexpected delays, the polls should go ahead as legally mandated.
Elections timetable
Comoros – Union Assembly (Jan. 2020)
Cameroon – National Assembly, Senate and local (Feb. 2020)
Togo – President (Feb. 2020)
Egypt – House of Representatives (Apr-May 2020)
Mali – National Assembly (May 2020)
Ethiopia – House of People’s Representatives & Regional State Councils (May 2020)
Burundi – President (20 May 2020); National Assembly, Local (June 2020)
Côte d’Ivoire – President (Oct. 2020)
Guinea – National Assembly, Presidential, (Oct. 2020)
Tanzania – President, National Assembly (Oct. 2020)
Somalia – House of the People (Oct. 2020)
Seychelles – President (Oct. – Dec. 2020)
Burkina Faso – President, National Assembly (Nov. 2020)
Namibia – Regional councils and locals (Nov. 2020) & National council
Ghana – President, Parliamentarians (Dec. 7, 2020)
Chad – Legislative, Local
Mauritius – Municipal
Gabon – Senate late 2020 or early 2021
Source: Mybrytfmonline/Kofi Atakora