Since Ali Gudlawe’s presidential election, Hirshabelle regional state has been plagued by internal political struggles that threaten the federal electoral process.
On july 3rd, Hirshabelle cabinet ministers led by the Vice-president Yusuf Ahmed Hagar (Yusuf Dabageed) arrived in Beledweyn, Hiran region, to hold a cabinet meeting for the first time since November 2020.
On the morning of July 4th, heavily armed militia led by Abukar Hud, a retired general attacked the city to disrupt the cabinet meeting chaired by Yusuf Dabageed, and clashes broke out in several neighborhoods in Beledweyn that led to deaths and other damage.
The fighting is about General Hud’s faction’s refusal to let HirShabelle regional cabinet to hold the cabinet meeting in Beledweyn.
The rebellious general, who rejected the election of Ali Gudlawe as Hirshabelle president on November 2020, strongly opposes the administration’s officials operating inside the city as long as his demands are not met.
Hud and his militia have been on the outskirts of Beledweyn for some time, mobilizing against HirShabelle leadership.
Current situation was exacerbated when the vice president Dabageed announced that a cabinet meeting would be held in Beledweyn.
Federal interior minister Mukhtar Hussein Afrah, sent a statement urging both sides to avoid anything that could escalate tensions in the region and to voice their concerns peacefully.
He also called on intellectuals, traditional elders and various sections of the society to stand up and address the crisis.
While efforts were underway to prevent further clashes, the Hirshabelle government canceled the meeting because the tension was too high to risk further harming the local population.
Few hours later, Hirshabelle ministers decided to move out of the city and let locals find a solution to the imbroglio.
Overall, the situation is now calm and the flow of people and vehicles has now returned to normal. Businesses and education centers reopened after militiamen withdrew from the city.
The Hirshabelle sub-clans at loggerheads
In Beledweyn, tensions between the HirShabelle forces and the General Abukar Hud’s militia are high since the retired general sided with a faction within his Hawadle clan who opposed the election of a non-Hawadle president in Hirshabelle.
The Hawadle clan has boycotted the election of President Ali Gudlawe who hails from the Abgal clan and his deputy Yusuf Dabageed himself a Hawadle, and since the election, the people of Hiran have staged protests against HirShabelle.
The dispute over the division of power between the HirShabelle administration also created an armed movement called the Hiran Rebel Council, which openly fought against HirShabelle security forces and refused to allow Ali Gudlawe to come to Beledweyn and be inaugurated.
Beledweyn has been the scene of several deadly clashes between General Hud and HirShabelle forces, and talks between the General and HirShabelle officials have failed.
The Hawadle clan claims the president of the HirShabelle administration has to be someone from their clan, which they say was part of the deal to establish the administration in 2016.
But other clans, chief among them the Abgal clan, argue there’s a misunderstanding and that the previous presidents were all Hawadle and since there are more than a dozen other clans it is inconceivable for one clan claims the presidency for itself.
Federal parliamentary elections in Beledweyn
In an interview in Mogadishu, the Minister of Interior and Local Government of the HirShabelle administration, Mohamed Ali Adle, raised doubts that the city of Beledweyn will be able to organize legislative elections in Somalia.
Beledweyn is home to forces opposed to the HirShabelle administration led by General Hud, who has vowed to fight against allowing President Ali Gudlawe’s administration to come and hold the federal elections in the city.
However, minister Adle said the HirShabelle administration is committed to holding elections for the lower house of parliament in Beledweyn, and said it will implement the May 27 agreement signed in Mogadishu by Prime Minister Roble, the leaders of the regional administration and the Benadir region.
HirShabelle president Ali Gudlawe and Jubaland president Ahmed Madobe are facing similar challenges and had previously attempted to limit the constituency to one city, so as not to hold elections in Beledweyn and Garbaharey, but the plan was rejected.
On the other hand, HirShabelle VP Yusuf Dabageed who addressed the media in Beledweyn after the clashes, told his clan that if Beledweyn denies Ali Gudlawe presence, there will be no elections in this city.
He said all Hiran residents are interested in holding their federal elections in Beledweyn, but some oppose HirShabelle President Ali Gudlawe’s visit to the city as part of the electoral plan.
Yusuf Dabageed added that the affected residents of Hiran are working hard to uphold their rights to elect their representatives.
Autonomous regional administrations failure
Hirshabelle, which is a combination of Hiran and Shabelle is one these failed attempts to create autonomous regional administrations similar to Puntland, Jubbaland, Southwest and Galmudug.
Each region wanted to have its own separate administration but were forced to get along and form one entity.
Both, however, have much in common – their population hails mostly from the Hawiye and Jareer Weyne clans – and together would benefit from each other as they both have tremendous natural resources and face same challenges – floods, Al-Shabab, poverty and lawlessness.
To date, no solution is in sight to implement these fusion schemes smoothly and without resistance. Also, it takes leadership, time , resources and goodwill on the part of political actors to finalize or rethink these attempts.
The federal government has devoted significant time and resources to resolving the Galmudug case in recent years. And there is currently a short-term solution for Jubbaland whose a committee has been set up to facilitate reconciliation and make federal elections possible.
However, it is strange that leaders of the supposedly autonomous entities demand that the federal government resolve their problems when they have challenges with their own population while refusing to cooperate fully with federal institutions.
General Abukar Hud wants the federal government to intervene and at the same time rejects to meet with federal officials and local government. Also, President Gudlawe is unable to find local solutions to local problems. Regional leaders should do more to try to come to terms before calling for help.
For Hirshabelle, some opposition politicians are quick to blame the current federal administration for the clashes without offering an alternative to bring the two opposing sub-clans to the negotiating table.
The clan monopoly puzzle
Finally, General Hud’s demands regarding his Hawadle clan’s exclusive right to the presidency are contrary to good governance and justice, and it is inacceptable, especially when the federal system is moving towards a universal suffrage based democratic system..
But he has a point to claim the same privileges as other autonomous regions, good or bad. Hirshabelle’s Hawadle should be given the presidency if they’re the biggest clan same as the Abgal claim it in Benadir or Habar-Gidir in Galmudug or scrap once for all this whole arrangement that doesn’t give a fair chance to others Somalis.
Any Somali should be able to run for office anywhere in Somalia, regardless of his or her clan, and no rule or deal should prevent that. This clan monopolization of power should be reversed, prohibited in the federal constitution and declared null and void any clan attempt to make this injustice permanent.
