Over one hundred police officers are undergoing training to secure the electoral process in Kismaayo

African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) has started training  Somali police officers from Jubbaland State to help secure the electoral process.

The first series of training sessions which commenced  this week, in Kismayo, is aimed at educating and preparing police forces for the forthcoming electoral process.

Among the subjects tackled in the training which funded by United Nations Development Program (UNDP) were the importance of election security, voting systems and electoral justice.

According to AMISOM, in Kismayo, 115 police officers from Jubbaland underwent the training.

Speaking at the launch of the training in Kismayo, the Jubbaland Police Commissioner,  Hassan Kheyre, welcomed the initiative by AMISOM, the United Nations and other international partners, saying the sessions will help prepare security officers secure the electoral process.

“They will be trained on election security. We thank the United Nations, AMISOM and other partners who have supported us on this program, which will help the police, fulfill their duties”,  Kheyre said.

Deputy Superintendent, Alexander Kweku Obeng, the AMISOM Police Team Leader in Kismayo, emphasized the role the Police plays in securing elections world over, noting that Jubbaland police is not an exception.

“Jubbaland is preparing for elections and as you are aware, the Police play a major role in election management in every country and the police in Jubbaland State of Somalia are not an exception,” Kweku observed.

He said there is need for security officers to improve their skills and ability to effectively manage the forthcoming election process. DSP Obeng noted that the training was in response to a needs assessment study conducted earlier in the federal member states.