As Mogadishu casts its votes today, the election stands not only as a civic exercise but as the culmination of a long and deliberate process driven by leadership, persistence, and institutional reform.
Before dawn broke over the Indian Ocean, thousands of Mogadishu residents were already on their feet, lining up outside polling stations from Karaan district in the north to Kahda in the south, eager to cast their ballots.
Long, calm, and orderly queues began forming as early as 3am, underscoring strong public enthusiasm for the city’s first local council elections conducted under universal suffrage in more than 50 years.
Somalia last held direct elections in 1969, before a military coup that kept civilians out of power for decades.
After years of civil war following military leader Mohamed Siad Barre’s fall in 1991, the country adopted an indirect clan-based electoral system in 2004, in which clan representatives select politicians, who in turn choose the president.
The process has historically been deeply contested by candidates seeking top office before President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, who won power twice through this system, announced his commitment to transition to universal suffrage at the local, federal and presidential level.
In a press statement, the commission said about half a million people registered to vote for 390 district council seats, with approximately 1,605 candidates competing across 523 polling stations in the capital.
Over 10,000 police officers have been deployed with a city-wide lockdown, restricting vehicle and pedestrian movement, as well as stopping flights into the city’s main airport.
The commission further said 918,890 voter cards were printed ahead of election day, and 503,916 have already been collected by registered voters, reflecting months of intensive voter registration and public outreach.
A voter casts his ballot paper at a polling station during local council elections in Mogadishu on December 25, 2025. [AFP]
The vote marks a historic turning point in Somalia’s democratic journey, one made possible through years of institutional groundwork led by the Chairman of the National Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (NIEBC), Abdikarim Ahmed Hassan.
While speaking as polling opened, Abdikarim said approximately 480,000 residents across the Banadir region are eligible to participate in the election.
He said to ensure the smooth conduct of the process, the commission trained and deployed 5,200 election workers across more than 500 polling stations throughout Mogadishu.
While welcoming the early turnout, Abdikarim reaffirmed the commission’s commitment to fairness, transparency, and public participation.
“I urge all registered voters to turn out in large numbers, because their participation is vital for Mogadishu’s democratic transformation,” he said.
Addressing the broader significance of the day, the chairman described the vote as a decisive break from decades of exclusion.
“This is a great day for the Somali people, a day when the door to progress has truly opened,” he said, noting, “It is the day when politics in Somalia ceased to be controlled by a small group. It is the day Somalis begin choosing their leaders through their own votes. And for us, as an electoral commission, it is the day we fulfilled the mandate entrusted to us, to deliver a one-person, one-vote election to this country.”
For Abdikarim, the moment carries special personal significance.
He is widely credited as the man who took Somalia’s electoral process from the ground up, starting from nothing, and delivered it to the ballot box on December 25, 2025.
The journey began on November 26, 2024, when the Federal Government of Somalia’s Council of Ministers convened an urgent meeting to approve the formation of the Independent National Electoral and Boundaries Commission.
The 18-member body was mandated to oversee elections at all levels and guarantee a transparent, democratic process.
The meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Hamza Abdi Barre, reaffirmed the government’s commitment to restoring the people’s right to vote.
On December 2, 2024, during a high-profile ceremony attended by senior government officials, Abdikarim Ahmed Hassan was elected Chairman of the commission, securing 17 out of 18 votes, a decisive endorsement of his leadership.
From that point onward, Abdikarim and the commission embarked on an intensive national effort to make one-person, one-vote elections a reality.
He held extensive consultations with political leaders and party officials, addressing concerns related to electoral laws, procedures, and political party registration.
To ensure inclusivity, the commission extended registration deadlines so that no political party would be excluded from participating in the electoral process.
The commission then rolled out nationwide voter registration, establishing multiple registration centres across districts and communities.
This was reinforced by a large-scale public awareness campaign, encouraging citizens to register, collect their voter cards, and participate in choosing their leaders.
On March 18, 2025, Abdikarim and fellow commissioners officially launched a new generation of electoral equipment, including biometric voter registration devices and electronic voting machines, marking a major step toward a modernised democratic system.
“Today, we have received and taken full control of all the essential election equipment, including voter registration and polling-day devices,” he said at the launch, adding, “This is a major milestone, one that the Somali people have been waiting for.”
Despite financial and logistical constraints, Abdikarim emphasised the commission’s determination to deliver.
“Our goal was to conduct the local council elections within this year, all at once. While resources were limited, we had the capacity, the commitment, and the equipment to make it happen,” he said.
He said the commission will start local elections in other states, then proceed to the Members of Parliament and the President in later dates to be announced.
For many observers, Abdikarim’s legacy is now firmly tied to the restoration of popular voting in Somalia, the man who started from zero and returned the ballot to the people.
