Mandera East MP race gathers pace as Omar Sala gains

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The political contest for the Mandera East parliamentary seat is beginning to take shape.

A fresh push for unity within the Egal Sharmarke sub-clan of the Murule community has given former MP and current Mandera County Assembly Speaker Omar Mohammed Maalim a potentially significant boost ahead of the 2027 General Election.

The decision by Engineer Abdi Maalim Hassan to withdraw his candidature and back Omar Sala on Thursday has effectively removed one of the aspirants who could have competed for support from the same sub-clan, setting the stage for a more consolidated political campaign within the Egal Sharmarke bloc.

It took the intervention of elders from the sub-clan to have Hassan withdraw his candidature.

In a region where clan and sub-clan considerations have historically influenced electoral mobilisation, the decision is significant because it could help prevent the splitting of votes between two candidates drawing support from the same political constituency.

Omar Sala has since received the backing of Egal Sharmarke elders, with the latest development placing unity at the centre of his campaign as he seeks to return to the National Assembly.

The Mandera County Assembly Speaker is not a newcomer to elective politics.

He served as Mandera East MP before moving into county leadership, and his political career has included serving as deputy governor of Mandera County from 2013 to 2017. The county assembly currently lists Omar Mohammed Maalim as its speaker.

Omar welcomed Engineer Abdi Maalim Hassan's decision, describing it as an opportunity for the Egal Sharmarke community to consolidate its political voice.

“I welcome the decision by Engineer Abdi Maalim Hassan to step down in my favour. I don’t take it for granted. This is not about one individual; it is about the unity of Egal Sharmarke and the interests of our people. We must remain united and work together because our people expect us to provide leadership and deliver meaningful services,” Omar said.

He said the endorsement by elders also came with a responsibility to work with other community leaders and residents across Mandera East.

“I am grateful to our elders for the confidence they have placed in me. Their endorsement comes with a responsibility. I will continue engaging with our leaders and community members so that we move forward together as one family,” he said.

For Engineer Abdi Maalim Hassan, the decision to withdraw was presented as a move intended to prevent political competition from creating divisions within the family.

“I have decided to step down in favour of Omar Sala because the unity of our community is more important than an individual position. We are brothers and members of the same family, and there is no reason for us to divide ourselves when we can work together for the benefit of our people,” he said.

The latest development is particularly relevant in the context of Somali electoral politics, where negotiations among elders, clans and sub-clans can play an important role in determining how political support is consolidated.

However, the withdrawal does not by itself settle the Mandera East contest.

The Murule community remains an important constituency in the race, but Mandera East is politically more diverse, with voters from the Garre communities, as well as other minority and so-called corner communities, forming part of the electorate.

This means that while securing unity within Egal Sharmarke could strengthen Omar's position among voters from his own sub-clan, the eventual contest is likely to depend on how the competing candidates build support beyond their immediate clan structures.

That wider arithmetic will be particularly important because Mandera East has five wards — Township, Neboi, Khalalio, Libehia and Arabia — with a 2022 voter register of about 48,219, according to constituency data compiled from IEBC records.

The 2022 election also demonstrated how closely contested the constituency can become.

Incumbent MP Hussein Weytan Abdirahman won the seat on an ODM ticket with 11,645 votes, while Omar Maalim, then running on a UDM ticket, garnered 9,451 votes. Abdikadir Hassan finished third with 4,032 votes.

The figures underline the importance of every bloc of voters in a constituency where the winning margin can be determined by relatively small shifts in support.

Weytan, who is seeking another term, hails from the Kulow sub-clan of the wider Murule community.

He has already received a boost from another intra-Murule political development after Farah Adow withdrew from the 2027 race and endorsed him following consultations involving elders and leaders from the Maalim Kullow community.

The two developments therefore present an interesting political contrast within Mandera East: Omar Sala has benefited from consolidation among the Egal Sharmarke, while Weytan has similarly gained from the withdrawal of a rival from the Maalim Kullow side.

The contest is also expected to involve Ahmed Ali Madey, who hails from Ali Sharmarke, further broadening the competition within the Murule community.

With several aspirants seeking support from different sections of the constituency, the 2027 race is increasingly shaping up around two interconnected questions: how effectively individual candidates can consolidate their own clan and sub-clan bases, and how successfully they can reach voters outside those traditional political formations.

For Omar Sala, the withdrawal of Engineer Abdi Maalim Hassan means one less candidate competing for the same Egal Sharmarke support.

But it also raises the next political challenge — translating that internal unity into broader support among Garre and other communities whose votes could prove decisive in a constituency where no single clan or sub-clan can be assumed to determine the outcome on its own.

Chairman Musa Osman Yarow, who has been involved in efforts to promote unity within Egal Sharmarke, said the latest agreement should be seen as an example of leaders placing collective interests above individual ambitions.

“Today is truly a big day for our family. Our family must remain united. Leadership should never become a source of division among brothers. Our leaders must work together, consult one another and focus on the common goal of delivering services and opportunities to our people. That should be the utmost goal of every leader,” Musa said.

“So on behalf of my fellow elders who were involved in the negotiations and the larger community members, I want from the bottom of my heart to thank Engineer Abdi for his bold move to withdraw. This moment marks a historic and joyful occasion. His decision should not be mistaken as a sign of weakness but strength. It shows that he really cares for our family unity,” he said.

Community members from the Egal Sharmarke sub-clan of the Murule community are all smiles following the breakthrough that saw Engineer Abdi Maalim Hassan withdraw his candidature and back Omar Sala for the Mandera East parliamentary seat./STEPHEN ASTARIKO