Ali defies Wajir's Ajuran clan, to vie for governor

Wajir's Ajuran community will have to come up with a new lineup after Senator Abdullahi Ali, known as Kabret, defied the council and said he would run for governor.

The county is inhabited by three major communities: the Degodia, Ogaden and Ajuran.

The Ogaden are predominant in Wajir South while the Ajuran are found in Wajir North and West.

Due to clan matrix, the three communities have been forming alliances and sharing positions to win political seats.

Ali said he had been left out.

The Ajuran community, through its national council, have in the last one week held meetings in Wajir town to solidify their votes and come up with candidates.

On Tuesday, Ali claimed that the national council had been hijacked by people he described as outsiders.

He accused them of being out to spread the agenda of other communities.

“Unfortunately our council has totally lost it in the governor race. They have been hoodwinked into forming alliances with the promise that our people will given other seats,” Ali said.

“What I want to make clear is that Wajir belongs to all of us and time has come to have a taste of the county top seat since Degodia and Ogaden have already held the position."

Hasna Maalim Bule, a member of the Ajuran, called for the suspension of the council, accusing them of doing little to make sure the community wins the coveted seat.

“The  council has outlived its mandate and what they currently engaging in is not communities interest," Bule said. 

Ambia Abdi, also a resident, said they have already held the deputy governor position before when Abdihafid Abdullahi Yarrow worked under former governor Ahmed Abdullahi.

He said they are holding the senator position, adding that all they want now was the governor seat.

According to the Wajir declaration in 2013, each of the three major clans in the county were supposed to have their turn at the county's top seat.

The seat has so far attracted the first governor of Wajir Ahmed Abdullahi and incumbent Ahmed Mukhtar, who succeeded his former boss Mohamed Abdi after impeachment early last year.

Others are Ugas Sheikh and Hassan Mohamed.

(edited by Amol Awuor)