Somali authorities enforced heavy security on Thursday as Mogadishu held its first direct local elections in nearly sixty years.
Around 10,000 security personnel were deployed, while authorities closed the city’s airport for the tightly controlled vote.
The election was seen as a crucial test before next year’s presidential ballot in a nation scarred by conflict.
Long queues formed early outside polling stations, though turnout thinned noticeably by early afternoon, witnesses reported.
Election commission chief Abdikarin Ahmed Hassan said all stations closed peacefully at 1500 GMT, with counting expected to begin soon.
Voters dipped inked fingers proudly, calling the day historic after decades without universal suffrage.
“This is a great day,” said 37-year-old Guhad Ali, displaying proof of his vote with quiet satisfaction.
Somalia abandoned direct elections after Siad Barre seized power in 1969, replacing ballots with clan-based political arrangements.
Since 2006, the government has battled Al-Shabaab militants, whose insurgency continues beyond Mogadishu’s improving security perimeter.
In the past year alone, attacks have targeted the president’s convoy, the airport, and a detention facility.
More than 1,600 candidates contested 390 council seats across Banadir, the southeastern region housing the capital.
President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud hailed the vote as “the future of the Somali people,” championing electoral reform.
However, the Somali Future opposition coalition boycotted the ballot, accusing the government of power centralisation.
Former prime minister Hassan Ali Kheire warned the process aimed to extend the president’s mandate and would not be accepted.
Analysts caution that without compromise, disputed reforms could reignite unrest ahead of national elections ending in mid-2026.