Hope Kivengere, member of the COMESA Committee of Elders from Uganda, will lead the COMESA Observer team to monitor the Egyptian presidential elections set for March 26 -28 2018.
A seasoned communications professional, Ms. Kivengere is currently the Advisor of the AU/UN Information Support Team.
At the invitation of the National Elections Commission (NEC) of Egypt, COMESA and the Community of Sahel-Saharan States (CENSAD) will deploy a joint Election Observation Mission to the elections after undergoing a joint two-day training in Cairo before deployment to various governorates.
As part of its mission in Egypt, the COMESA delegation will conduct pre-election observation which will include consultations political parties, the NEC, security agencies, Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) the Media and other stakeholders. The aim is to gather information on election-related issues and to assess election preparedness. The delegation will also engage with the Diplomatic Community as well as with other election observers on the ground in the selected provinces.
The findings of the Pre-Election Observer missions will enhance understanding of the electoral processes in Egypt. These findings will be included in the detailed report that will be submitted to the NEC and the Government within 90 days from the election date.
The joint COMESA -CENSAD deployment is informed by a Memorandum of Understanding signed between the AU and the Regional Economic Communities (RECs) in 2008, and a decision of 20th Technical Meeting of AU and RECs on Early Warning Systems held in December 2017 in Djibouti further underscored the need for collaboration between the RECs.
