By: Abdikadir Ukash
WAJIR—The recently selected candidate for Wajir County gubernatorial seat by the Fai Sultanate may not be accepted in Wajir South, Kulan Post understands.
This will strike out the possibility of forming coalition with a team led by Mohamed Abdi Mohamud and backed by Mohamed Elmi ahead of the polls. Wajir South is the most populous constituency in Wajir County and it’s considered the deciding factor of the county politics.
Mohamed Abdi Mohamud, the serving Saudi ambassador is set for an uphill task convincing the South community to trust him with the county leadership because of past actions while serving as the Member of Parliament for Wajir East (1997-2002).
The community believe that he initiated an “isolation campaign” to push the Ogaden community out of the Wajir East constituency. The community add that his successor, Mohamed Elmi inherited the project from the ambassador and enforced it.
Habaswein residents led by the area MCA Adan Mohamud said Tarbaj MP Mohamed Elmi transferred a proposed abattoir slated for Habaswein to Tarbaj while he was the Wajir East MP.
“Mohamed Elmi used his power then as the area MP to move an abattoir meant for Habaswein to Tarbaj, leaving the town ‘orphaned’,” the MCA told Kulan Post on the phone.
Mohamed Elmi, now the Tarbaj Mp is backing Mohamed Abdi for the gubernatorial seat in the August elections.
In a surprise announcement last weekend at a hotel in Wajir, Sultan Najib replaced Ugas Sheikh Mohamed with Amb Mohamed Abdi, a move that divided opinion. Ugas was asked to vie for Wajir East MP while the formerly selected candidate for Wajir East Rashid Kassim was left out in the new gameplan.
“We understand what they (Mohamed Abdi and Elmi) did while they had the power in the past and it will be hard for them to convince us to support them to hold a more powerful position,” a senior official in the Ogaden Supreme Council intimated to Kulan Post.
“They may have forgotten, but we have not and it’s pay-back time,” the OSC official added.
In the social media space particularly Whatsapp groups, it is evident that the community is torn between seeking the post of deputy governor or have a candidate fronted by the OSC vie for the county gubernatorial position. Majority support the latter.
The community has made it clear that they would not settle for the post of senator in this elections, but would consider to deputise for a gubernatorial candidate from a winning coalition.
