Before anyone talks about elections in Mogadishu, there are two essential questions that must be answered clearly:
First, who is responsible for establishing the administration of Banadir Region?
Is it the people of Mogadishu who will be allowed to form their own local government, or is it the federal government that will appoint one at will?
If the residents of Mogadishu are sidelined in building the administration that will govern them, then there can be no legitimacy, no genuine representation, and certainly no trust in the leadership imposed upon them.
Second, is there a functioning legal framework in place before discussing elections?
Has a constitution been drafted for the new administration? Have its powers, responsibilities, and structure been defined? How will elections be held?
To hold elections without first defining the system that governs them is to invite chaos. It’s a recipe for confusion, conflict, and long-term instability.
The reason these questions matter is because the process currently unfolding is neither transparent nor fair. It’s being handled by a private company, not the government. This company has been handed a task that belongs to public institutions, with no public oversight, no transparency, and no accountability.
So far, what we are seeing is a troubling pattern. People are being registered for an election they do not fully understand. The registration system is so weak that it cannot detect duplicate entries. Videos on social media already show individuals registering multiple times without the system flagging it. Worse, there are credible concerns that people who do not even live in Mogadishu are being brought in to vote for certain candidates.
How can anyone trust a system where someone can register five times? What kind of election is this?
If these two foundational questions, who builds the administration and what is the legal framework, are not addressed with honesty and clarity, then Banadir Region will fall into the hands of individuals who do not represent the people who actually live there. We could end up with a governor from elsewhere, while Mogadishu residents watch from the sidelines, powerless in the city they call home.
The company running the election process seems to have one goal, remove control from the people of Mogadishu and hand it over to outside actors who serve private interests. This is not about democracy. It’s not about good governance. It’s about engineering a system where power stays out of the hands of locals.
This is a dangerous path.
Mogadishu needs leadership chosen by its own residents, not appointed by distant decision-makers or installed through flawed private contracts. It needs a constitution that clearly defines the roles and powers of local government. It needs transparency, accountability, and a system of checks and balances that ensures the people’s will is respected.
Without these, any so-called election held in Mogadishu will be a sham, a manufactured event designed to give the illusion of legitimacy while eroding the very foundation of democratic governance.
In a country that has suffered from decades of imposed rule, instability, and elite manipulation, Mogadishu deserves better.
The residents of Mogadishu are not a population to be managed, they are citizens who must be empowered. Until they are allowed to govern themselves with clarity, law, and fairness, no election will ever be real, only another layer of deception.
Abdulaziz Ibrahim Xildhibaan. Author and Political Commentator, writes about Somali politics and the Horn of Africa in general email: [email protected]