Sunday April 20, 2025

Mogadishu (HOL) — Somalia’s National Independent Electoral Commission expanded voter registration to three additional districts in Mogadishu on Saturday, marking another step toward the country’s first one-person, one-vote elections in over five decades.

Residents in Hamarweyne, Boondheere, and Shibis districts turned out in large numbers to register, forming long queues at designated centres in a sign of growing public engagement with the democratic process.

The district commissioner of Shibis, Ali Somali, praised the enthusiasm of local residents. “I want to be the last governor of Shibis to be appointed. I am happy that the people of this district will now vote for a leader of their own choosing,” he said.

A woman who registered to vote in Shibis shared her excitement with reporters: “For years we’ve waited to reach this day. I’m proud to say that I’ve now registered to vote in the upcoming local council elections this June,” she said.

National Electoral Commission Chairperson Abdikarim Ahmed Hassan said the commission had reached a critical milestone in implementing national elections in Somalia. 

“In Mogadishu, voter registration is underway in four districts. It has already been completed in Shangani, which was the first district to begin the process,” he said. “Today, we are implementing a one-person, one-vote system that many believed was impossible. The people of Banadir region are proving they are ready.”

Somalia’s electoral commission plans to hold local elections in June 2025 using the universal suffrage model. This will pave the way for national elections—including the presidency—slated for 2026. The country has not held direct elections since 1969.

However, key opposition figures and the administrations of Puntland and Jubbaland have publicly rejected the electoral roadmap, arguing that the National Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission lacks consensus and legitimacy.

The electoral reform process, first proposed in 2023, faced delays due to political disagreements among federal member states. The cabinet later approved the framework, and the federal government has since proceeded with preparations, starting with the Banadir region.

President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has pledged to dismantle Somalia’s long-standing 4.5 clan-based power-sharing model in favour of universal suffrage—a move widely supported by civil society groups but resisted by several federal states.