Somalis vote in Mogadishu's first local election in decades

Somalians voted on Thursday in the Mogadishu region's first direct local election in nearly 60 years, despite security concerns and a boycott by opposition leaders.

The election is seen as a test ahead of the 2026 presidential ballot, in a country struggling to emerge from decades of conflict and chaos, an Islamist insurgency and frequent natural disasters.

There were long queues outside several polling stations early Thursday, but numbers had dwindled significantly by early afternoon, an AFP correspondent saw.

"This is a great day," said Guhad Ali, 37, showing the ink on his finger proving he had cast his ballot.

Universal suffrage was abolished after Siad Barre took power in 1969. Since the fall of his authoritarian government in 1991, the east African country's political system has revolved around a clan-based structure.

The government said it had deployed more than 10,000 security personnel on the streets of Mogadishu, while the civil aviation authority said it was shutting the country's main airport on voting day.

Since 2006, authorities in the Horn of Africa nation have been fighting Al-Shebab fighters linked to Al-Qaeda.

This is the first direct election for many Somalis. By Hassan Ali ELMI (AFP)

Security has improved in the capital but just 60 kilometres (40 miles) away, fighting continues. In the past year there has been a bid to ambush the president's convoy, missile fire close to the international airport, and an assault on a detention centre.

According to the electoral body, there are more than 1,600 candidates contesting 390 local council seats in the southeastern region of Banadir, where Mogadishu is located.

President Mohamud has championed the reintroduction of direct elections, saying on Thursday they were "the future of the Somali people".

But the ballot has been boycotted by the opposition Somali Future coalition, and a number of federal states have dismissed it as a bid by central government to concentrate power in Mogadishu.

Political tensions

Former prime minister Hassan Ali Kheire, a member of Somali Future, said the coalition believed the government had orchestrated the election to extend the current president's mandate.

President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud (R) urged Somalis to 'take the path of democracy'. By Hassan Ali ELMI (AFP)

This he warned, "is not going to be accepted".

Although Barre abolished direct elections nearly six decades ago, they have been reintroduced in the northern region of Somaliland, which declared independence in 1991 but is not internationally recognised.

The semi-autonomous northern state of Puntland also held direct local elections in 2023 but abandoned the system for local and regional polls in January 2025.

The vote had been postponed three times this year before going ahead on Thursday.

The political strain is fuelling tensions ahead of next year's national elections, when parliament's mandate expires in April and the president's term ends in May.

In September, the International Crisis Group said the government's attempt to replace clan-based indirect voting with direct elections "could plunge the country back into turmoil if leaders fail to compromise".

Without "an inclusive electoral roadmap", Mogadishu could witness a repeat of the deadly street battles of 2021, when elections were delayed and then-president Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed attempted to extend his mandate.

The opposition has threatened to organise a rival presidential ballot in 2026 if the federal government insists on direct elections then.