SOMALILAND VOTES: Team of 60 UK observers dispatch to electoral zones ahead of poll

A team of 60 election observers from the UK Saturday dispatched to all the six electoral zones in Somaliland ahead of the November 13 elections which features three presidential candidates.

The delegates from the UK funded International Election Observation Mission (EOM) also hailed the preparatory process of the election noting the deployment of iris- scan technology was a first and expressed optimism on the Monday poll.

Head of observer team Michael Walls said he was positive the election would be free and fair.

“Preparation for this matter was a hard one. We came on the good intention which cannot be measured without support from stakeholders of Somaliland and the UK government that funded this activity,” said Walls.

“Since now we can see the fruits of the hard work, we hope to see the election to take place in peace and fair with high integrity that will be another step forward on the progress of democracy in Somaliland.”

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According to a press release earlier in the week, the team which is drawn from UCL University in the UK said some of the members of the team would be staying until November 16 to monitor the post-election process.

The elections will take place in four regions namely Sool, Sanaag, Maroodi-Jeex, Togdherer and Awdal.

Somaliland Electoral Commission spokesman told Goobjoog News Saturday a team of observers from Eastern African bloc IGAD, AU and US will be observing the polls which will see over 700,000 voters take part in.