GhanaElection 2008 a statement rescheduling the celebration of Holy Mass in all its parishes countrywide. This to some extent helped to calm the storm that was gathering on the issue of Sunday being the Election Day. The elections however came on peacefully on Sunday, 7 th December, 2008 and these put all matters to rest. Recruitment of Presiding Officers and Polling Assistants Recruitment of election officials for the presidential and parliamentary elections was carried out throughout the country between August and November to ensure that the right calibres of officials were selected for the exercise. In most cases, interested and qualified applicants were interviewed and given appointment letters. However, officials who were found to be sympathetic to some political parties and those who were openly seen campaigning for some parliamentary candidates were dropped after series of investigations. It must, however, be noted that in some cases Returning Officials had difficulties in getting qualified election officials especially in some remote areas. In those instances, officials were recruited from nearby towns and villages even though this attracted some criticisms from the politicians. Training of Election Officials Training of election officials began with planning meetings. The Commission organised planning meetings for Regional Directors, their deputies and District Officers before the beginning of each exercise. Field officers were given the opportunity to raise their concerns, with regards to difficulties encountered during the implementation of previous election programmes as well as make relevant inputs. Training of Election Officials took place in all districts across the country between 25 th November and 4 th December 2008. Grassroots level training sessions witnessed the presence of both local and foreign observers. Training of Temporary Staff The Electoral Commission during elections engaged thousands of officials of various categories for temporary election duties. For the 2008 presidential elections, the Commission through its Regional and District Directors recruited and trained the following temporary officers: · 230 Returning Officers 42