To ensure Somalia is fully prepared for ‘one-person-one-vote’ universal elections in 2020/2021, the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) has organised a four-day workshop on electoral security and dispute resolution for senior government officials involved in election planning and management. The workshop, being held in the Ugandan capital, Kampala, is aimed at developing a common strategy on how to organise and manage the country’s next elections to ensure they are peaceful, credible and inclusive.
Uganda’s Electoral Commission Chairman, Justice Simon Byabakama, who opened the workshop, yesterday, emphasised the importance of security in holding successful elections that were peaceful and credible. Justice Byabakama said the electorates must be secured to enable them to exercise their right to vote. “The entire process of organising and conducting elections is a multi-stakeholder responsibility requiring that each one renders total support and cooperation to all the efforts in place to realise the desired goal,” he observed.
Somalia plans to hold the next elections through universal adult suffrage, unlike the previous ones, which were based on the clan system. AMISOM is currently helping Somalia develop capacity by training and providing technical support to the National Independent Electoral Commission of Somalia (NIEC) and other critical government agencies in election planning and management.
Justice Byabakama commended Somalia for its proactive approach in strategising for the next elections and urged those involved to continue working together to overcome challenges associated with the complex exercise. The NIEC chairperson, Halima Ismail Ibrahim, echoed the sentiments, saying security will be a major factor in Somalia’s quest to achieve universal adult suffrage in the next elections.
