Somalia government soldiers on patrol in Mogadishu after an Al Shabaab attack. There are concerns about sabotage by Al Shabaab and fears that clan, money and incumbency are likely to tilt the playing field during elections. FILE PHOTO | AFP
After the elections in Burundi, Tanzania and Uganda where violence and allegations of an uneven playing field for the candidates and where partisan electoral bodies tainted the outcomes, the focus is now on Somalia, which is holding elections, and Rwanda and Kenya which go to the polls next year.
Poor funding, political meddling to blame for lack of credible polls in East Africa
After the elections in Burundi, Tanzania and Uganda where violence and allegations of an uneven playing field for the candidates and where partisan electoral bodies tainted the outcomes, the focus is now on Somalia, which is holding elections, and Rwanda and Kenya which go to the polls next year.
The three elections are already facing challenges of insecurity, a lack of level playing field and poor preparations.
Somalia will be holding parliamentary and Senate elections from October 23 that will culminate in the presidential election on November 30, but there are concerns about sabotage by Al Shabaab and fears that clan, money and incumbency are likely to tilt the playground.
There are also concerns that the elections were hastily organised, with the electoral commission being constituted just months before the elections, while President Hassan Sheikh Mohamoud overshot his term, which ended on September 10.
Unlike in 2012 when 135 clan elders selected 275 MPs, there will be 14,025 people participating in the election where 30 per cent of the parliamentary and senate seats have been reserved for women. The United Nations Development Programme is the key financier of the Somalia elections.