HOP135 Clan Elders Accuse HirShabelle leader of hijacking the seat’s election

The traditional elders of the Abtisame tribe, which belongs to the Lower House’s HOP135 seat have accused the president of HirShabelle state Ali Guudlaawe of planning to hijack the election.

They described Guudlaawe’s attempts to transfer the seat’s constituency from Beledweyne to Jowhar as illegal and clearly violates the September 17 electoral deal signed by the FGS and the Federal States.

Elder Mohamed Ahmed Ibrahim Food-Adde said Guudlaawe has pledged before he left Beledweyne that SEIT will hold the HOP135 seat election in Beledweyne within five days and would never be transferred.

“It’s now clear for us that the president broke his promises as the HOP135 election is set to be moved to Jowhar from Beledweyne. This is illegal and a deliberate act aimed to take the clan’s rights,” he added.

He warned the grave consequences that will result from the illegal transfer and hijack of the HOP135 seat election. “The plan by Guudlaaw will cause HirShaballe to fall apart and crumble the community.”

The elder further stated that the regional leader will shoulder the responsibility of what will happen.

For his part, Islow Roble Kasim, another elder termed FEIT’s statement on the seat’s transfer as an unlawful move to legalize what is not legal. He called on the electoral body to respect the Sep 17 agreement.

“The seat of Abtisame tribe is wanted to be looted in Jowhar after failure in doing so in Beledweyne. This is a plan that has been worked on for some time. It is an injustice and we will never accept it,” he said.

The leading traditional elder pointed out that Guudlaawe has dared to sow conflict in HirShabelle state through his unfair acts and rights abuses against the local community that belongs to the HOP135 seat.

Abtisame’s elders said Ali Guudlaawe was the first president to dare to openly oppress the community and underlined that it would cause HirShabelle to fall apart at his hands.