ADDIS ABABA, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- The African Union (AU) on Tuesday disclosed that the former President of Sierra Leone, Ernest Bai Koroma, has headed to Namibia's capital Windhoek as the Head of the AU Election Observation Mission (AUEOM) to the country, which is scheduled for Wednesday.
The former President of Sierra Leone is leading a 40-member AU election observers' mission to Namibia, which is composed of ambassadors from the Permanent Representatives' Committee of the AU, parliamentarians from the Pan-African Parliament, election administrators, civil society, independent electoral experts and academic institutions, the 55-member pan African bloc said in a press statement on Tuesday.
"The deployment of an AUEOM in the Republic of Namibia demonstrates the AU's commitment to supporting credible, transparent, inclusive and peaceful electoral processes in its Member States by providing an objective assessment of the process and the political environment surrounding it," the statement read.
The deployment of 40 short-term observers, which will observe the integrity of Namibia's presidential and parliamentary elections was approved by the AU Commission Chairperson, Moussa Faki Mahamat, upon an invitation from the government of Namibia, it was noted.
The AU observation mission is expected to issue its Preliminary Statement based on its observation of Namibia's upcoming elections after the close of polls, and its final report within two months after the elections, it was noted.
According to the AU, the objectives of its election observation missions in the South African country is mainly aimed to provide an accurate and impartial assessment and reporting of the quality of elections in the country, including "the degree to which the conduct of the elections meets regional, continental and international standards for democratic elections."
Namibians will go to the polls on Wednesday to elect a new president and parliament, in which the Electronic Commission of Namibia, as of November 13, had recorded 1,358,468 registered voters consisting of 717,809 female voters and 640,659 male voters.
