This archive report was first published on 25 October 2021.
On October 23, 2021, the African Union Mission in Somalia (Amisom) launched a sensitisation campaign to promote fair coverage of elections in Somalia.
The campaign, a collaboration between Amisom, the National Union of Somalia Journalists (Nusoj), and the main electoral management body (FEIT), aims to place journalists at the forefront of informing the public about politics without inciting them.
According to Simon Mulongo, the deputy head of Amisom, the media will now be key in promoting peaceful, free, and fair elections for Somalia, and the AU is keen to promote a conducive working environment for journalists before, during, and after the elections.
The programme will initially include dozens of journalists from all five federal states, where indirect elections for the Lower House are due to begin.
Gradually, officials say, the network of trained journalists should increase, signalling an expansion of focus by a mission that was initially only involved in security, not governance.
