Five more members of parliament were elected today to the House of the People in the ongoing electoral process in Baidoa and Jowhar, the administrative capitals of South West and HirShabelle States.

The election in Baidoa brings the number of MPs elected in South West State to 59, leaving only 10 seats to be contested in the coming days.

Former MP Hassan Osman Hussein got re-elected by delegates by 31 votes, while his opponents, Ahmed Luqman Ibrahim, and Ahmed Sheikh Hassan Fiqi got 4 and 16 votes, respectively.

Mr. Hussein said he was happy to be re-elected, adding that he hopes to meet the expectations of his community. The MP-elect acknowledged that the electoral process had been tough and it took him a year’s long campaign to secure his seat.

"It has been a very competitive contest, I always believed that this was not a preserve for anybody and anyone could contest. I was prepared to work with anyone, in case I lost and I hope they will do the same," observed Mr. Hussein after the Sunday elections.

Another former MP, Sheikh Adan Mohamed Noor, was re-elected with 49 votes, after his opponent, Fadumo Mohamed Ahmed, stepped down.

In Jowhar, a female was among the three candidates elected on Sunday as federal states rush to complete the process. The State Indirect Electoral Implementation Team (SIEIT) of HirShabelle pledged to expedite the process.

“We will continue with the process of electing members of the House of the People in the remaining two days. We will continue transparently until we are done with the exercise,” Osman Bareey, SIEIT HirShabelle Spokesman stated.

Those elected are Maryan Ahmed Harun, who won an all-female seat; Mohamud Abdullahi Ahmed and Abdirizak Ahmed Mohamed. Speaking moments after being declared winner, MP-elect Harun, said her win was a result of hard work, and called for the unity of all Somalis to help develop the country.

“This has been a journey, we had all worked hard for a long time to ensure we get the right person for this seat, finally we have that person. Let us now work together to develop the country,” said Ms. Harun.

She thanked the HirShabelle administration for honouring the 30 percent gender rule and women groups for pushing for women’s rights.

MP-elect Mohamud Abdullahi Ahmed pledged to deliver on his campaign pledges. “I will work for the people. I promise to deliver services to the people. I hope to work on the promises I made, I want you to support me” Mr. Ahmed added.

The election of the three MPs means that HirShabelle has completed voting for two thirds of the seats allocated to clans of the state. To date, 24 MPs have been elected in HirShabelle out of the 37 seats allocated, leaving 13 to be filled before end of the week.