Letter from Mogadishu: Election fever in the region as Somalia debates about which system

President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and Mogadishu’s Police Commissioner Moallim Mahdi have officially registered as voters ahead of General Election slated for May 2026. [Courtesy]

Three member states of the East African Community (EAC) are in the throes of a general election that will either birth a new president or give the incumbents a new mandate.

Tanzania’s president Samia Suluhu Hassan will know her fate a few days from today when her country goes to the polls on October 29 pick new members of Parliament and she defends her position. In neighbouring Uganda, Yoweri Kaguta Museveni will face an acid test when he faces off with the revamped opposition and the bulging youth population that is craving for change when the country goes to the polls on January 12, 2026.