Tuesday, May 28, 2024
By Felix Mogaka
Retired President Uhuru Kenyatta, who is the head of the African Union Election Observation Mission (AUEOM) on Monday met with the National Operational and Intelligent Structure (NATJOINS) led by South African Police Service Major General Mashadi Selepe in Johannesburg.
The purpose of the meeting was to discuss security measures for the Wednesday General Elections in South Africa.
The meeting also featured other national security stakeholders drawn from the National Operational and Intelligent Structure signaling what’s at stake in the midst of the process.
Amongst other security mandates, NATJOINs will be responsible for security preparedness and intelligence sharing during the electoral period.
Kenyatta also had discussions with South Africa’s Chief Justice Raymond Zondo where they discussed the judiciary’s role in upholding the rule of law and ensuring fair and transparent resolution of any unforseen electoral disputes.
The former Kenyan president,well known for his diplomatic engagements and Sucessful leadership as the head of AUEOM, will key in significant experience in the entire process as witnessed in his oversight missions at previous elections in Nigeria and Senegal.
South Africans will vote in national and provincial elections to elect a new National Assembly and state legislatures. The National Assembly will choose the president for the next five years.
It will be the country’s seventh democratic general election since apartheid ended in 1994 when Nelson Mandela was elected president with the ANC winning 62.5 percent of the 400 seats in the National Assembly.
After 30 years of dominance, the African National Congress (ANC) faces its toughest election yet, needing 50 percent of the National Assembly to maintain its parliamentary majority.
South Africa’s Independence Electoral commision says election results will be out by June 2.