Somalia rolls out voter registration after 56 years of electoral drought

Somalia President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud was 15 years old in 1969 when Somalia last held universal suffrage elections.. [File, Standard]

More than 56 years since Somali nationals last cast their vote in a one-person, one-vote election, the country's National Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission has embarked on a massive process of registering voters.

Few in the country have ever voted in their lives, including the President, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, who was 15 years old in 1969 when Somalia last held universal suffrage elections.