Adopting the soothing tones of an operator on an emergency hotline, Harriet Potakey, one of a score of controllers at Ghana’s election monitoring “command centre”, seeks to calm an excited caller.

“Just relax,” she says, coaxing the man via a hands-free device attached to her mobile phone. “Did the polling station open by 7am?” she asks, tapping data into a spreadsheet. “Yes, I am listening.”