By Betty Luke
Ten Sub-clans of the Somali Community in Isiolo have embarked on a unity quest aimed at reconciling community members who differed during the 2022 electioneering period.
Led by Somali Council of Elders (SCE) Chairperson Abdikadir Shariff Abdullahi, the group said they had picked a lot of lessons after they losing out elective positions during the last elections.
“We are uniting so we can forge forward as a community. We urge everyone to reconcile with each other so we ensure unity among ourselves and amongst all our subclans,” noted Abdulahi.
While revealing that they would be holding weekly community meetings, the elder extended an olive branch to a sub-clan that did not send representatives at a community meeting held in Isiolo town on Tuesday.
“We will not allow anyone to divide our community. We have 10 sub-clans represented here and even the eleventh one will join us in subsequent meetings,” he said.
Community’s Midnimo Women Chairperson Fani Mohammud said they were also seeking to extend their unity efforts to other communities across the county to ensure a peaceful coexistence.
SCE Secretary General Idle Hassan said the community was keen on drafting a plan on how they could rectify the mistakes they made during the electioneering period.
“We thought we would have a Deputy Governor, MCAs and other leaders but we lost all of that. We want to plan ahead and ensure we rectify where we went wrong,” he added.
Youth leader Osman Shariff called for tolerance among the residents saying harbouring grudges against each other would make them lose key opportunities.
He said time had come for reconciliation and that they were keen on ensuring a harmonious coexistence was realised in the county.
