Tuesday August 4, 2026
Mogadishu (HOL) — Somalia's opposition Towfiiq Party has rejected the official results of Galmudug's first one-person, one-vote local council elections, accusing the electoral commission of manipulating the vote count and failing to reflect the will of the electorate.
In a statement issued Monday, the party said the National Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (NIEBC) had undermined public confidence in the electoral process by announcing results it claimed did not match vote tallies collected by its representatives at polling stations.
Towfiiq accused the commission of allowing corruption and bias to influence both the voting and vote-counting processes, arguing that the alleged irregularities deprived Galmudug residents of their constitutional right to freely choose their representatives.
The party called on the electoral commission to withdraw the announced results and conduct an independent audit of ballots cast in the 10 districts where voting took place to ensure the final outcome accurately reflects the will of voters.
The challenge came hours after the electoral commission declared the ruling Justice and Solidarity Party (JSP), led by President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, the clear winner of the elections.
According to NIEBC Chairman Abdikarim Ahmed Hassan, JSP received 135,247 of the 193,451 valid votes cast, securing 63 of the 189 local council seats contested across Galmudug.
Towfiiq finished second with 26,003 votes and won 12 seats. Sincad secured six seats after receiving 12,862 votes, while Karaamo won five seats with 10,668 votes.
The electoral commission has not publicly responded to Towfiiq's allegations or indicated whether it will review the announced results.
