$20K, no foreign spouse earns you ticket for S. West presidential poll

Candidates wishing to contest in the upcoming state presidential elections in South West state must part with between $10,000 and $20,000, the state electoral committee has said.

The recently formed committee announced Friday that male candidates must deposit $20,000 to the polls body while their female counterparts will be required to pay $10,000.

The race which has attracted over ten candidates including former Al-Shabaab number two Mukhtar Robow is scheduled to take place on the 17^th of this month. Candidates must be from South West state, must not be married to a foreigner, must be a practicing Muslim and should not be less than 40 years old the committee added.

The candidate must be of sound mind, not convicted by a court before and have knowledge and experience required of a state president.

So far, only one female candidate has declared interest to run for the state’s highest office. Other candidates include former federal finance minister Mohamed Fargetti and former intelligence Chief Hussein Osman Hussein.

UN envoy to Somalia Nicholas Haysom said Thursday the credibility of the elections is key to peace and stability not only in South West but also the country at large.

“We think it’s very important that the elections be held in a credible and acceptable manner in accordance with the rules that they’ve established so that the result is accepted – if the result is not accepted and there is conflict as a result there’ll be a problem, not only for the region but for the country,” said Haysom.