Somalia’s plan for “one person, one vote” has run into a political crossfire.
On Tuesday, President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud registered as a voter in Mogadishu’s Warta Nabadda District part of a push for the country’s first direct elections in more than half a century. The Electoral Commission is deploying biometric kits to capture citizens’ fingerprints, photos, and personal details.
But opposition MP Abdirahman Abdishakur Warsame is unimpressed. In a post on social media, he warned the exercise was meaningless without political freedoms, security, and a level playing field coining the phrase “qof iyo qori”, or “one person, one gun”.
“Without genuine political compromise, independent institutions, and a safe environment, these registrations risk becoming a façade,” he wrote.
Somalia last held a nationwide direct vote in 1969. Since then, leaders have been picked through a clan-based indirect system. Hassan Sheikh’s administration wants to change that but constitutional disputes, federal tensions, logistical hurdles, and al-Shabaab threats remain.
Critics say moving ahead without fixing these core issues could trigger another disputed election. As registration rolls out to other states, the war of words between Villa Somalia and the opposition is only just beginning.
