The Chairperson of Somalia’s Independent Electoral Commission, Abdikarim Ahmed Hassan, has announced that the commission plans to conduct elections next month in the Federal Member States of Galmudug, HirShabelle, Northeastern regions, and the Gedo region of Jubbaland.

Speaking about the planned polls, Abdikarim stated that significant efforts and challenges had been overcome in order to implement what he described as “public elections,” allowing Somali citizens to directly elect their leaders in a process similar to that recently carried out in the Banadir region and South West State.

“Next month, the light of elections will shine from Galkayo to El Carfiid, and thereafter we will extend it from Las Anod to Gedo in Jubbaland,” the Chairperson of the Independent Electoral Commission, Abdikarim Ahmed Hassan, said.

The announcement comes amid ongoing tensions in the Gedo region, where Federal Government forces and Jubbaland State forces remain deployed. The two sides have clashed several times in districts across the region, raising questions over how the planned elections will be conducted as both parties continue to compete for administrative control and political influence in Gedo.