Somalia to hold Banadir district commissioner elections after Eid al-Adha

Sunday May 24, 2026

Mogadishu (AX) — Somalia’s Ministry of Interior said on Saturday that Banadir district commissioner elections will be held after the Eid al-Adha holiday, with newly chosen local council members set to vote for district leaders and their deputies.

Interior, Federal Affairs and Reconciliation Minister Ali Yusuf Ali Hosh unveiled the plan in Mogadishu during a training session for newly elected local council members. He described the vote as part of a broader effort to complete a democratic and accountable system of local administration in the capital.

“After this training, especially after the holiday, district leadership elections will be held, where council members will elect the district governor and his deputies,” Hosh said.

Hosh said the process is meant to deepen local governance and build a structure that more accurately reflects the people it serves.

He added that training for council members will continue beyond the current workshop, expanding into technical lessons on district administration, project planning, social services and local council procedures.

Abdikarin Ahmed Hassan, chairperson of the Independent National Electoral and Boundaries Commission, said the first phase of the training will concentrate on the legal frameworks governing local councils and political organizations. Those frameworks were recently endorsed by the Council of Ministers.

The federal government has been working to set up local councils and elections in Banadir as part of a wider drive to widen public participation and reinforce governance.

The initiative arrives as Somalia continues to debate its political transition and the government’s push toward one-person, one-vote elections. Opposition figures have said the federal government is pressing ahead without enough consensus, while officials argue that direct and local elections are essential to making institutions more representative.