By - Reporter
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MOGADISHU, October 24 2026 Ali Abdullahi Hussein Guudlawe was re-elected on Saturday as leader of Somalia’s Hirshabelle state, winning 81 votes in a ballot of state lawmakers in the town of Jowhar, the speaker of the state House of Representatives, Abdihakim Luqman, announced.
His rival, Nur Ilmi Halane of the Ramaas party, received 13 votes. Ninety-eight of the House of Representatives’ 99 members took part in the vote and four ballots were spoiled, Luqman said. Guudlawe won 86.2% of the 94 valid votes.
Luqman also announced that Abdifatah Hassan Afrah, of the Justice and Solidarity Party, was elected deputy leader with 79 votes. Abdifatah Bashir Mohamed of Iftiin Qaran received 16 votes, and two ballot was spoiled.
In a speech after the result, Guudlawe thanked the lawmakers for giving him their trust to lead Hirshabelle for the next five years.
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“God willing, as you have entrusted me with the leadership, I will strive for justice and to unite the people of Hirshabelle,” he said, in remarks translated from Somali.
He said that in the previous five years there had not been a single day of disagreement in Hirshabelle, whether in the executive, the legislature or parliament.
Guudlawe also thanked his rival, saying that “we have all won” and that if his party won on Saturday, Ramaas would win another day, God willing. He thanked the federal officials who attended the vote.
Guudlawe, of the Justice and Solidarity Party, has led Hirshabelle since 2020. His party nominated him for a second term in September. The new term is for five years.