Set to take place from 10-12 December, the mission aims to assess and report on the conduct of the elections at the invitation of the government of Egypt and the National Elections Authority (NEA).
The AU-COMESA EOM is led by the former Vice President of Uganda Specioza Wandira Kazibwe and John O. Kakonge, members of the COMESA Committee of Elders, read the statement.
Moreover, the joint mission is comprised of 70 Short-term Term Observers (STOs) including African Union-accredited ambassadors, members of African civil society organizations, African election officials and experts, and human rights specialists, added the statement.
The observers will be deployed to 16 of Egypt’s 25 governorates.
Throughout their mission, the Joint EOM will engage with state authorities, the NEA, political parties, media outlets, as well as civil society organizations, and representatives of the diplomatic community, as per the statement.
The mission is also set to cooperate with other election observation missions deployed to observe the 2024 Egyptian presidential elections.
On Wednesday, the NEA approved 24 embassies, 67 diplomats, and 220 international observers, along with 68 local organizations and 22,340 local observers to monitor the elections at 9,376 polling stations nationwide.
The election authority is scheduled to announce the final results on 18 December if no run-off is required.
Candidates running for the presidency include incumbent President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi, who is running for a third term in office and whose electoral symbol is a star; Farid Zahran, the leftist opposition Social Democratic Party candidate with the sun as his electoral symbol.
Other contenders are Abdel-Sanad Yamama, representing the Wafd party with the palm tree as his electoral symbol, and Hazem Omar, the candidate from the People's Republican Party with the ladder as his symbol.
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