On behalf of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and as mandated by Her Excellency Dr. Samia Suluhu Hassan, President of the United Republic of Tanzania and the Chairperson of the SADC Organ on Politics, Defense and Security Cooperation, it is my honour to welcome you to this important event of the release of the Preliminary Statement of the SADC Electoral Observation Mission (SEOM) on the conduct of Presidential, Legislative and Provincial elections held on the 09th of October 2024 in the Republic of Mozambique. As the Head of Mission, I am well supported by the representatives from the Republics of Malawi and Zambia, who are Members of the SADC Organ Troika.
The Mission had a total of 53 observers from 10 SADC Member States, namely; the Kingdom of Eswatini, the Republics of Angola, Botswana, Malawi, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe, the Democratic Republic of Congo and the United Republic of Tanzania. These observers were deployed across all eleven provinces (11) of the Republic of Mozambique. The Mission observed the Presidential, Legislative and Provincial Elections in accordance with the SADC Principles and Guidelines Governing Democratic Elections (2021) and the laws of the Republic of Mozambique.
As part of its mandate, the Mission engaged key stakeholders in Mozambique, including the Election Management Bodies, namely the National Electoral Commission (CNE), and the Technical Secretariat for Election Administration (STAE), the Government of Mozambique (Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation and Office of the Attorney General), Heads and Representatives of the Diplomatic Missions accredited to the Republic of Mozambique; political parties, civil society, faith-based organizations, professional bodies, academia, the youth and the media.
