Baidoa (Somalia Today) – Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud arrived in Baidoa on Friday for high-level talks on the future of South West State, days after federal-aligned forces seized the city and ousted the regional leadership.
The visit comes at a tense moment in one of Somalia’s most politically sensitive federal member states, as Mogadishu moves to oversee a transition towards direct elections.
Lower House Speaker Sheikh Adan Mohamed Nur Madobe, interim regional officials, military commanders, and crowds of residents welcomed Mohamud at Shaati Gaduud airport, officials said.
The presidency said the visit would centre on consultations with interim authorities, elders, and civil society representatives on security, governance, and plans for “one person, one vote” elections.
The trip comes four days after Somali national troops and allied local forces took control of Baidoa, the administrative centre of South West State, prompting regional president Abdiaziz Hassan Mohamed, known as Laftagareen, to resign.
His departure followed a sharp rupture with Mogadishu after South West authorities on March 17 suspended cooperation with the federal government and accused it of interfering in the state’s affairs.
Prime Minister Hamza Abdi Barre later appointed Second Deputy Prime Minister Jibril Abdirashid Haji Abdi as acting head of the regional administration.
Federal officials said the interim arrangement would guide the state through a transition and prepare the ground for direct elections, a key part of Mohamud’s political agenda that has also drawn resistance from some regional leaders.
Disputed transition
The struggle over South West State is closely tied to Somalia’s wider and highly contested push towards direct elections.
Mohamud’s government approved a bill on universal suffrage in August 2024, calling it a historic step towards restoring direct voting for the first time in decades.
In December 2025, Mogadishu held municipal elections that officials described as the first stage of that process.
But the project remains divisive, with some federal member states, notably Puntland and Jubaland, viewing the central government’s approach as an attempt to weaken regional autonomy and concentrate power in Mogadishu.
In March, Somalia’s federal parliament backed constitutional changes that critics said could affect the electoral timetable and potentially prolong Mohamud’s hold on office, though his supporters said the measures were needed to complete the country’s transition towards universal suffrage.
Madobe, who has spent recent days in Baidoa preparing the ground for the transition, has held meetings with regional stakeholders and security officials.
State media said the discussions focused on restoring order after Laftagareen’s departure and securing the Mogadishu-Baidoa road, a key commercial route that Al-Shabaab has repeatedly threatened.
Federal officials said the consultations in Baidoa are intended to help shape the next phase of the regional administration and reflect the wishes of local residents.
Old tensions, new stakes
Baidoa was the scene of a major political crisis in 2018, when former Al-Shabaab deputy Mukhtar Robow was allowed to run for the South West presidency before federal forces arrested him, triggering deadly protests and renewed questions over Mogadishu’s role in regional politics.
The current crisis has also drawn attention because South West borders Ethiopia, whose forces have long played an important security role in the region.
Laftagareen had previously relied on Ethiopian troops deployed in and around Baidoa, and the latest confrontation has unfolded amid wider tensions in the Horn of Africa, where rivalry among Somalia’s regional partners has increasingly intersected with domestic political disputes.
For Mohamud, Friday’s trip is an attempt to turn a military and political victory into a workable regional settlement in a city where security, federal legitimacy, and humanitarian fragility remain closely intertwined.
Officials said the talks in Baidoa would focus on political direction, reconciliation, public services, and the roadmap for South West State’s next administration.
Whether those discussions produce a stable transition or simply a pause in Somalia’s latest federal crisis is likely to shape not only the future of Baidoa, but also the credibility of Mogadishu’s broader push to remake the country’s political system.
