AU pledges enhanced security during Somalia's upcoming electoral process

 The African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) said it had initiated measures to ensure the forthcoming elections in Somalia to be peaceful.

Special Representative of the Chairperson of the Commission (SRCC) Francisco Madeira said the pan African body's troops have been trained to provide security to ensure a peaceful vote during the upcoming electoral process in Somalia.

"The commitment taken by Somali politicians and leaders is that the 2016 elections be viewed as another transition towards a full-fledged electoral process of one-person-one-vote by 2020. We are happy that they have all agreed on how to go about this," Madeira said in a press release received in Mogadishu on Saturday.

The Somali government still faces a threat from Al-Shabaab, which has launched frequent attacks in an effort to topple it.

But the AU envoy said AMISOM has already begun working with the Somali government and its security forces to establish a technical security committee to oversee security arrangements for the August ballot.

Somalia is expected to hold elections before the end of the year, after political representatives struck a deal on the electoral model to be used to designate a new president and members of parliament.

Madeira called on the international efforts to flush out militants, saying the pan African body's troops capacity to dislodge the insurgents from their strongholds was hampered by a lack of military equipment.

"We will go home as soon as we feel that we have reached a level where Somalis can do the job themselves and also when we are convinced that we have fulfilled our mandate as African Union

source : xi