By M.A. Egge
The National Electoral Commission has assured the nation that the upcoming parliamentary and civic elections are on course to be held on schedule, come May 2026.
The NEC Chair Musa Hassan Yusuf, stated that they had a meeting with the President of the Republic of Somaliland, Abdirahman Mohamed Abdillahi Irro over the matter hence the Head of State was categorical that the slated schedules of the elections timelines ought to be adhered to and that no lapse or postponement was to happen.
It is worth noting that during the presidential campaigns the President has been pledging and promising repeatedly that once he wins he would not allow any unnecessary set-backs undermine and postpone the elections again in the country.
The chair noted that they were given express instructions for the elections plans and implementations to go on.
He said that the NEC is preparing plans for the registration of voters.
He made it clear that the formats and associated pros and cons experienced last time would be put in check hence loopholes, if any, would be dealt with.
On the other hand, Mr. Musa Hassan Yusuf, pointed out that the elections held in the country had 70% of its costs and bills basically funded by the government with the remainder footed through contributions by partner international donors.
Speaking on the matter, Chairman Musa said, “When the last election was held, seventy percent of the bills were paid from the national budget, and the rest was paid by donors”.
On hiccups in the processes, he noted that international donors always decried and lamented on delay in elections hence created distrust and worried whether they would be held at all.
He clearly indicated that NEC had worked to prepare plans for the local and representative elections scheduled for May 31, 2026.
He also pointed out that they had gone on a trip to Kenya last week to meet with donors and to prepare plans for the upcoming elections.
He continued, “Since the holding of the elections is one of the highest constitutional responsibilities and priorities of the President of the Nation, he has already been firm on the adherence to the schedule hence we were informing you that we have started preparing for the elections”.
He added, “We went on a trip to Nairobi, and we met with donor governments, especially those that helped us in the previous elections and other governments that are interested in adding more support to us now, such as the US embassy, the EU embassy, the Swedish embassy and the British government. We met with all of them and informed them or shared with them the challenges we faced, such as in the registration processes and preparing even better for what we can concertedly work on together”.
“We also met with the Kenyan IEBC as we want insight into the registration process hence make it a success”, he said.