Elders and members of the Sharmarke sub-clan have endorsed former Mandera County water executive Ahmed Madey for the Mandera East parliamentary seat ahead of the 2027 General Election.
Nominated MP Abdi Sirat Khalif said the endorsement honours a political agreement reached in 2016, when the Ali Sharmarke sub-clan agreed to step aside for Omar Sala, who later won the seat.
Khalif explained that the community had agreed to give the Ali Sharmarke sub-clan an opportunity to produce a member of Parliament after it supported Sala’s bid.
“When you promise someone something, it is best to fulfil it. I have no problem with the Egal Sharmarke sub-clan, and we appeal to them also to join us in the quest to be just in delivering those promises,” Khalif said.
The endorsement brought together members of the Egal Sharmarke, Halane Sharmarke, Ali Sharmarke and Arfahow groups, among other community members.
Madey’s bid comes amid competing positions over who should represent the wider Murule community in Mandera East. Earlier, elders from the Egal Sharmarke sub-clan backed Sala, while Madey and his supporters questioned that decision and argued that candidates should seek a mandate directly from voters.
The contest is expected to include Sala, a former Mandera East MP from the Egal Sharmarke sub-clan, and Hussein Weytan, the constituency’s incumbent MP, who was elected in 2022.
The constituency has voters from different communities, making support beyond individual clan groupings an important factor for candidates seeking to win the seat.
However, it remains unclear whether all participants in the 2016 meeting recognise the alleged agreement as binding or whether it will influence the wider electorate ahead of the election.
Elder Abdirahman Mudow urged supporters to exercise restraint in their political statements, warning that inflammatory remarks could strain relations within the community.
Mudow maintained that the Ali Sharmarke sub-clan was determined to pursue its parliamentary ambitions through the ballot after stepping aside in previous contests.
“Every time the Ali Sharmarke community stepped down, not now. We will forge our own path till the ballot, no going back,” Mudow said.
Madey expressed gratitude to the elders and community members who endorsed his candidature, while seeking support from other groups in the constituency.
“I am thankful for my people who endorsed me and appeal to all other communities in Mandera East, which is cosmopolitan, to vote for me so that we can shape our future together,” Madey appealed.
The endorsement marks an early effort to consolidate support for Madey ahead of the 2027 election. Whether the claimed 2016 agreement can translate into broader electoral backing remains to be seen.
The endorsement meeting was held in Nairobi on October 11.
