Sat – Thurs: 8:00am – 3:00pm | Fri: closed
General +252 613611116   contact@niec.so | WhatsApp +252 613611116  

NIEC Observatory Mission to Hirshabelle Presidential Elections

 

The National Independent Electoral Commission in line with fulfilling its mandate under the Somali Provisional Federal Constitution Article 111G and Article 14 of the National Independent Electoral Commission’s Law which encourages the cooperation between the Commission and Federal Member States and also responding to the invitation from the Speaker of Hirshabelle House of Parliament and Interim President of Hirshabelle to Observe the Hirshabelle Presidential Elections on 6th of September this year while an NIEC delegation was in Jowhar, Hirshabelle Capital city for their political engagement tour with regional member states. The Commission sent Observatory Mission to Jowhar on 15th of September this year.

Objectives of the Mission

  1. To strengthen the relationship between the Commission and Federal Member States.
  2. To observe the Presidential Elections of Hirshabelle Federal Member State. The election was managed by, an electoral committee consisting of members from Hirshabelle Parliament.
  3. To showcase the presence and the voice of the commission and also to share knowledge in regards to election management in the regions.

Achievements of the Observatory Mission

The Mission performed the following important tasks while in Jowhar:

  1. The Mission met with the Interim President and the Permanent Committee of the Hirshabelle Parliament to discuss the process of the presidential election.
  2. The Mission observed the election and monitored the electoral process; the Mission also read a copy of the electoral process to ensure the elections are conducted in a transparent manner.
  3. The Commission is aware of the importance of voter outreach and the Mission realized that this in this particular election, the electoral committee did not take enough time to conduct outreach as in the first round of the elections, 18 votes were invalid as a result of this. The Mission also noticed that the logistical support to the election was lacking as the electricity went off several times during the election, which created confusion and havoc.
  4. The Mission was at the end of the election given an opportunity to give their overall view of the election and Members of the Mission congratulated the newly elected president and lastly thanked the Hirshabelle Parliament and people for giving the Commission the opportunity to Observe, the Presidential Elections. The Commission acknowledges the progress and development of Hirshabelle Federal State as they embark on a path of democracy, which will lead up to “one person one vote election” in the next election.