Dhusamareb, SOMALIA – The Galmudug state government accused the chairman of Somalia’s National Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission of actively campaigning for Villa Somalia’s handpicked presidential candidate. In a statement released on June 16, Galmudug declared that NIEC chairman Abdulkarim Ahmed Hassan has abandoned neutrality. The commission chief is working to deliver the Galmudug election to Liibaan Ahmed Hassan, a former militia commander and close ally of President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud. The accusation is extraordinary and also entirely consistent with how Villa Somalia has operated across every federal state this year.
The statement follows weeks of escalating tension between Dhusamareb and Mogadishu over who controls the electoral process. Specifically, Galmudug’s information minister, Ali Mohamed Farah Seeko, said on June 15 that his government will reject any election arrangement imposed without a political agreement. Seeko insisted that the Galmudug election must be governed by three-tier agreements. These agreements must involve local government, the Galmudug administration, and the federal government. Without that framework, Dhusmareb considers any vote illegitimate. Furthermore, Seeko accused the federal government of deliberately halting earlier election preparations that Galmudug had already initiated. In fact, he said it plainly: “An election similar to the one that took place in Southwest will not happen in Galmudug.”
A Militia Commander for President
The man at the center of the Galmudug election controversy is Liibaan Ahmed Hassan, also known as Liibaan Shuluq. An investigation from December 2023 detailed his rise from militia commander in Galkayo South to one of the most politically connected figures in central Somalia. President Hassan Sheikh appointed Liibaan to oversee military logistics in Galmudug. That role gave him direct control over supply chains feeding federal troops in the region. Additionally, he runs khat trade committees that distribute profits among politicians. Liibaan Shuluq controls both the guns and the money in Galmudug’s political economy. Moreover, he previously served on the Federal Electoral Implementation Team, which means the man accused of benefiting from NIEC bias once helped design the electoral machinery itself.
The Justice and Solidarity Party, Hassan Sheikh’s political vehicle, has reportedly declined to renominate incumbent President Qoor-Qoor. Instead, JSP is backing Liibaan as its Galmudug election candidate. This is the same pattern Villa Somalia applied in Southwest State, where it toppled the previous president and installed a loyalist through a managed vote. Consequently, Galmudug’s government sees the NIEC chairman’s alleged campaigning not as an isolated breach of protocol but as part of a coordinated federal strategy to predetermine the outcome.
Galmudug’s statement demanded equal opportunities for all candidates and a transparent electoral process. However, those demands carry an implicit threat. Armed civilians in Cabduwaaq already took to the streets in defiance of federally imposed elections. Meanwhile, the federal government airlifted military supplies to Dhusamareb in April, equipping nearly 1,000 troops stationed on the outskirts of the capital. Therefore, the Galmudug election is a standoff between an armed federal state and an armed federal government, with an election commission caught in between.
The Southwest Template Rejected
Seeko chose his Southwest State reference deliberately. In that state, Villa Somalia used Turkish-backed military force to replace the sitting president, then held an 88-to-1 parliamentary vote that handed JSP a legislative majority. The Supreme Court validated the results on May 25, making the takeover legally permanent. Similarly, the playbook in Galmudug calls for a compliant election commission to deliver a predetermined result. Yet Galmudug refuses to play the role that Villa Somalia forced on Southwest.
The federal government has systematically dismantled opposition across every federal member state. In Jubaland, federal troop deployments failed to dislodge Ahmed Madobe but exposed Mogadishu’s willingness to use force against regional leaders. President Deni has accused Hassan Sheikh of creating pirates and dismantling federalism from within. In Hirshabelle, federal troops attempted to storm President Gudlawe’s residence on June 6. As a result, the pattern is unmistakable. Every federal state faces the same pressure to accept Villa Somalia’s chosen candidates through Villa Somalia’s chosen process.
An election commission that campaigns for one candidate cannot simultaneously referee the contest. Above all, any Galmudug election conducted under the current NIEC leadership will face immediate legitimacy challenges from Dhusamareb, from opposition candidates, and from the armed populations of central Somalia who have already shown their willingness to resist.
Notably, the NIEC scheduled the Galmudug election for July 9. That timeline now appears difficult, but not entirely impossible. Hassan Sheikh’s constitutional gambit extended his own term and centralized executive power, but it did not give him the tools to force elections on states that refuse to participate.
The clan clashes near Dhusamareb that TSD reported earlier this year were a direct product of Hassan Sheikh’s strategy of weaponizing local divisions to weaken regional governments. That strategy has now produced a Galmudug government that trusts neither the commission nor the candidate. Galmudug has stated it will not accept a biased commission. It will not accept a Southwest-style coronation. Accordingly, it will not accept a candidate imposed by a president who has already faced international rebuff for concentrating power. The Galmudug election crisis is the most direct challenge yet to Hassan Sheikh’s campaign to end federal democracy in Somalia.
