The African Union Election Observation Mission (AUEOM) has arrived in South Africa ahead of the 29 May 2024 General Elections.
At the invitation of the Government of South Africa and the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) of South Africa, the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, approved the deployment of the short-term AUEOM to assess and report on the conduct of this election.
The AUEOM is led by Uhuru Kenyatta, former President of the Republic of Kenya and is comprised of 60 short-term observers (STOs) drawn from ambassadors accredited to the African Union, officials of election management bodies, members of African civil society organisations, African election experts, human rights specialists, gender and media experts, and representatives of youth organizations.
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The observers are drawn from 24 countries which include Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burundi, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Eswatini, Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, South Sudan, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
The contingent will base its assessment on the legal framework governing elections in the Republic of South Africa and the OAU/AU Declaration on the Principles Governing Democratic Elections, the standards and obligations stipulated in the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance (ACDEG), and the International Declaration of Principles for International Election Observation among others.
In addition, the Mission is expected to interact with state authorities, the Electoral Commission, several political parties, the media, civil society organisations and representatives of the international community. They will also interact with other election observation missions deployed to observe the 2024 General Elections.
The Mission will release its preliminary findings and recommendations on the conduct of the elections on 31 May 2024 in a press conference set to take place in Johannesburg.