The Commission met with the Somaliland National Electoral Commission (NEC) to share experiences in how to conduct credible elections ahead of the Presidential and Legislative polls in Somaliland set for November 2024.

Deputy Commission Secretary – Operations Ruth Kulundu, who represented the Commission Secretary and CEO Marjan H. Marjan thanked the NEC for choosing Kenya to benchmark and learn more on technical support for the November 2024 elections. Kulundu stated that the Commission will assist the NEC to conduct successful elections.

Moreover, she expressed gratitude to the NEC for their confidence in the IEBC adding that Kenya and Somaliland EMBs will have the opportunity to exchange ideas and experiences through this partnership to improve governance and democracy by holding credible elections.

Musa Hassan, Chairman of the Somaliland National Elections Committee, thanked the Commission for agreeing to provide technical assistance to Somaliland as they prepare for the November 2024 elections. He emphasised that an earlier visit to IEBC, which was at the start of the year was critical as it taught them important lessons that have been crucial in the preparation of the November 2024 elections.

Musa added that NEC is keen to sign an MoU with IEBC, which will ensure the two institutions have a solid framework to support each other beyond the November 2024 elections. NEC is also looking forward to have IEBC technical staff visit Somaliland and provide on-site training and support to NEC staff. He appreciated the experience sharing and valuable lessons learned from the various presentations made, and anticipates more engagements ahead of the elections.

The Somaliland Ambassador to Kenya, H.E. Dr. Mohamed Ahmed Mohamoud, expressed gratitude to the Commission for agreeing to support the NEC to carry out credibility elections. Mohamed noted that the ideas shared will be useful in the run-up to the elections and held Somaliland. Strengthen its democracy.

“IEBC played a critical role to set high standards in election management, which other EMBS in the region and around the world should emulate. IEBC has put in place transparent electoral processes,” said Ambassador Mohamoud.

IEBC has pledged to offer technical support in a number of areas in the electoral process including voter education and training, supply chain management, voter verification and registration, election monitoring and observation as requested by NEC.

Other IEBC representatives present at the meeting included DICT, DLS, Ag. DVEP, Ag. DREB&RM, Ag. DSCM, MCPA, and MPA-CS/CEO, as well as the Somaliland NEC Vice Chairman and Commissioners and the Somaliland Deputy Ambassador to Kenya.