haradheere Votes for First Time in 15 Years After Al-Shabab Ouster

Residents of Haradheere, a town in Somalia’s Mudug region, cast ballots this week to elect local council and regional parliamentary representatives, marking the community’s first vote since Somali federal forces recaptured it from al-Shabab in early 2023. The election forms part of a wider round of direct polling under way across Galmudug state, following similar […]

Residents of Haradheere, a town in Somalia’s Mudug region, cast ballots this week to elect local council and regional parliamentary representatives, marking the community’s first vote since Somali federal forces recaptured it from al-Shabab in early 2023. The election forms part of a wider round of direct polling under way across Galmudug state, following similar exercises already completed in Banadir and South West State.

The vote matters because it tests whether Somalia’s push toward one-person-one-vote democracy can take root in areas long held by militants. Al-Shabab maintained strongholds in the southern portion of Galmudug for roughly a decade, largely in the districts of Xaradheere, Ceel Buur and Ceel Dheere, where residents were reportedly subjected to illegal taxation, movement restrictions, extortion and forced conscription. Its removal was seen as a rare, durable security gain in a conflict that has otherwise proven difficult to reverse.

For nearly 15 years, according to local accounts, Xaradheere functioned as one of al-Shabab’s most significant footholds in central Somalia. Somali National Army units, backed by local clan militias, retook the town in January 2023, ending years of militant administration.