The National Independent Electoral Commission is part of a delegation from Somalia to this year’s EISA 14th symposium in Johannesburg, South Africa from the 24th-25th September. Officials from the Ministry of Constitution affairs, the Federal Parliament and Commission on Constitution are also in attendance.The participants are drawn from the fields of elections such as representatives of EMBs, CSOs and academia.
The symposium is meant to share experiences, harness lessons and interrogate the integrity of recent elections in Africa. It will focus on the elections in Kenya, South Africa, DRC, Nigeria, Zimbabwe and Siera Leone.
It aims to generate policy -oriented recommendations with a view to shaping and contributing to the integrity of electoral processes.
NIEC is represented at this year’s symposium by Mr. Ahmed Yusuf, senior advisor on planning, monitoring and evaluation.
This year’s symposium theme is dubbed: Electoral integrity in Africa under imminent threat.
Electoral experts highlighted the threats in conducting credible elections in Africa. They noted the threats as being political, budgetary allocation, technological and voter apathy.
They identified the following threats.
-Minimal budget allocation to electoral bodies thus interfering with its independence
-Lack of participation in the electoral process
-Electoral law drafters lacking the expertise on the electoral cycle and legal frameworks thus contributing to delays in conducting elections
-Opposition groups lacking trust of the electoral body in managing the elections
-Intimidation of the electoral body by the governing political party
-Abject poverty in Africa contributing to votes buying
-Technology used in elections in the hands of third parties thus infringing on voter’s privacy