STORY: Somalia launches public awareness campaign on

2020/21 elections
DURATION: 3:55
SOURCE: AMISOM PUBLIC INFORMATION
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CREDIT REQUIRED: AMISOM PUBLIC INFORMATION
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH/SOMALI NATURAL SOUND
DATELINE: 6/AUGUST/2019, MOGADISHU, SOMALIA

SHOT LIST:

1. Wide shot, participants attending a town hall meeting on the 2020/2021 Somalia
elections
2. Close up shot, banner
3. Close up shot, participants attending
4. Med shot, participants listening
5. Close up shot, Simon Mulongo, the Deputy Special Representative of the
Chairperson of the African Union Commission (DSRCC) for Somalia taking notes
6. Med shot, notes
7. Wide shot, a panel discussing elections
8. Wide shot, DSRCC Simon Mulongo speaking at the forum
9. Close up shot, a religious leader taking notes
10. Close up shot, a participant listening
11. Med shot, DSRCC Simon Mulongo speaking
12. Close up shot, participants listening
13. Close up shot, Hussein Abdi Adan, a member of the Somali parliamentary
committee on elections listening
14. SOUNDBITE: (English) Simon Mulongo, Special Representative of the
Chairperson of the African Union Commission for Somalia
“AMISOM and I want to say this, on behalf of the African Union Commission, that it
will continue to facilitate this forum not just here in Mogadishu but elsewhere across
the country. We will do so working together in partnership with our colleagues that I
have mentioned including the UN to ensure that the participation of the people of
Somalia is as wide and as deep as possible.”

15. Wide shot, officials of the National Independent Electoral Commission (NIEC) at
the forum
16. Wide shot, participants listening at the forum
17. Close up shot, a visually impaired participant holding his walking stick
18. Close up shot, a visually impaired participant attending the forum
19. Med shot, officials of the NIEC answering some of the questions from the
participants
20. Wide shot, participants listening
21. Close up shot, a participant listening
22. Wide shot, participants listening
23. Med shot, a member of the Somali federal parliament attending the forum
25. SOUNDBITE: (Somali) Abdifatah Kassim, Member of the Somali Parliamentary
Adhoc Committee on Electoral Laws
“The only thing we need is to be enthusiastic about the change of (electoral laws),
because if we do not change our previous way of doing elections and hold on to our
views, we cannot expect different results. So to effect those changes we have to
come up with new ways and ideas.”

26. Med shot, a participant contributing to the discussions during the forum
27. Med shot, participants listening
28. Close up shot, a participant listening
29. Wide shot, a participant contributing to the discussions during the discussion
30. Close up shot, another participant contributing to the discussions
31. Wide shot, participants listening
32. Med shot, participants leaving at the end of the forum
33. SOUNDBITE: (Somali) Hussein Abdi Adan, Member of National Independent
Electoral Commission of Somalia
“We are working together with AMISOM and AU in general. We are currently
working together on a process known as “electoral task force” which AMISOM is
playing a key role. Whenever we seek any support from the AU or AMISOM, be it
logistical support or any other support, we usually get it quickly from them and we
appreciate them.”

34. SOUNDBITE: (English) Haji Ssebirumbi Kisinziggo, AMISOM Senior Political

Affairs Officer
“We shall be having a series of engagement forums where AMISOM prepares to
facilitate engagement between federal member states, FGS (Federal Government of
Somalia), political parties, executive, and the civil society so that they can be able to
have ideas on the expectations of the electoral process and the electoral law and
may be also on the constitutional issues.”

Somalia launches public awareness campaign on 2020/21 elections

Mogadishu, 7 August 2019 - Somalia has launched a public awareness campaign on
the 2020/21 elections to ensure residents keep abreast of ongoing preparations for
the one-person, one-vote exercise.

The event was attended by representatives of the Federal Government of Somalia,

Federal Members of Parliament, leaders of political parties and civil society groups.
The United Nations, Electoral Institute for Sustainable Democracy in Africa (EISA) and
the International Republican Institute (IRI) were also represented.

Ahead of the elections, the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) will facilitate
a series of town hall meetings in Mogadishu for Federal Member States to educate
and update Somalis on the electoral and constitutional process.

At the launch event in Mogadishu, the convener and chair of Somali Non-State Actors
(SONSA), Mr. Osman Tahlil, listed a series of activities planned to create awareness
about the process. He was grateful for the support of AMISOM to SONSA and the
Somali Institute of Public Administration and Management (SIPAM) in the planned
campaigns.

In his remarks, Hon. Abdifatah Kassim, a Member of the Somali Parliamentary Adhoc
Committee on the Electoral Law, said the House is expected to pass amendments to
the proposed Election Act before the end of October 2019, to pave way for universal
suffrage elections.

“We need to be enthusiastic about the changes in the electoral law because we have
to change the mentality of voting via clan-based system which has been in existence
for over 30 years,” said Mr. Kassim. He added that Somalia needs to adopt an electoral
model that will guarantee the rights of all adults to vote.

A Commissioner from the National Independent Electoral Commission, Hussein Abdi

Adan, expressed optimism that the next elections will be peaceful and urged the
public to participate in the forums to fully understand the process.

“We have formulated policies and are currently pushing for the adoption of the
election laws. We are also organizing public awareness campaigns and identifying
potential polling centres. And the Electoral Commission is grateful to have the support
of AMISOM through this process,” said Mr. Adan.

He emphasized that “the town hall meetings will provide an opportunity for the public
to familiarize themselves with the National Independent Electoral Commission’s 5-
year Strategic Plan, which outlines a roadmap for achieving one-person, one-vote
universal elections in 2020/21”.

Speaking at the same event, the Deputy Special Representative of the Chairperson of
the African Union Commission (DSRCC) for Somalia, Simon Mulongo, assured the
people of Somalia of AMISOM’s support in facilitating the engagement forums,
countrywide.

“AMISOM and other partners will ensure that all Somalis participate in the upcoming
elections by educating and preparing them for the electoral process to ensure
democracy is fully implemented in Somalia,” said Mr. Mulongo.

“We will be having a series of engagement forums, facilitated by AMISOM, involving

the Federal Government of Somalia, Federal Member States, political parties’ leaders
and the civil societies to educate and inform them on the electoral process, the
electoral law and constitutional matters,” said AMISOM Senior Political Officer, Hajji
Ssebirumbi.

Mr. Ssebirumbi added that the relevant stakeholders in the upcoming electoral
process are in the process of agreeing on election modalities that would help the
country move from the 4.5 clan-based electoral system to one-person, one-vote
multiparty electoral system.

Somalia, with the help of AMISOM and the United Nations, is making urgent
preparations for universal suffrage elections, which will be the first of its kind after
more than two decades since the outbreak of the civil war that followed the collapse
of the Somali government in 1992.

AMISOM has been working closely with the federal and state governments to secure
Somalia and provide a conducive environment for universal elections.

ENDS