HirShabelle Election Under Fire: Armed Men Seize Beledweyne Registration Center

Beledweyne, Somalia (WDN) — HirShabelle’s disputed election process has been thrown into fresh turmoil after armed men reportedly seized a voter-registration center in Beledweyne, turning a political dispute over the credibility of the vote into a direct security challenge.

The incident comes as the National Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission moves ahead with plans to hold HirShabelle’s regional parliamentary and local council elections on September 30, 2026.

The commission says the preliminary voter-registration list will be published on September 2, with registration and polling locations to be announced on September 15. But in Beledweyne, the dispute has already moved beyond political rhetoric.

Abdulqadir Yusuf Elmi, who identified himself as leader of the armed group, told Universal TV that the men occupied the facility to protest what they described as an unfair electoral process. He alleged that parliamentary seats were effectively being assigned to predetermined individuals rather than decided through genuine competition.