As Wajir County moves towards the 2027 General Election, the contest for the governor’s seat is developing into a complex political struggle involving established politicians, public servants, business figures, diplomats and emerging leaders seeking to build countywide support.
Behind the public declarations and grassroots meetings, a parallel process is unfolding: clan elders and community leaders are consulting, endorsing preferred candidates and negotiating political positions, raising questions about whether the county’s influential political communities can reach consensus or whether competing ambitions will once again fragment their support.
The Fai sub-clan of the Degodia community has already endorsed businessman Dr Hassan Mohamed Adan, popularly known as Fuje, as its preferred candidate.
Meanwhile, the Matan community has witnessed competing endorsements involving Wajir County Chief Officer for Finance Yahya Mohamed Dahiye and former Wajir West MP Ahmed Kolosh Mohamed, while Omar Sheikh Ali has also asserted his family’s backing.
Former governor Mohamed Abdi, former Cabinet Secretary Mohamed Elmi, Capital Markets Authority chairperson Ugas Sheikh Mohamed and former EACC deputy director Hassan Wehliye remain among the established figures associated with the contest.
Former ambassador Dr Mohamed Abdi Affey is another figure to watch amid reports that Ogaden elders are considering endorsing him and that he has expressed interest in the county’s top seat. The endorsement discussions, however, must be distinguished from the official electoral process and from the individual decisions of voters.
The stakes are significant because Wajir’s political history demonstrates that community negotiations can shape the field of candidates, but they do not automatically translate into a countywide electoral mandate.
The 2022 gubernatorial election provides an important starting point: Ahmed Abdullahi Jiir won with 35,533 votes, followed by Hassan Mohamed Adam with 27,224, Ahmed Ali Mukhtar with 21,859 and Mohamed Ibrahim Elmi with 21,047. Mohamed Abdi Mohamud received 15,486 votes, while Ugas Sheikh Mohamed secured 8,086.
These figures, recorded in the election petition proceedings, illustrate how the previous contest was distributed among several candidates. They also offer a baseline against which the new political alignments can be examined, without assuming that previous support will necessarily be repeated in 2027.
The Fai endorsement and the question of unity
Dr Hassan Mohamed Adan, known as Fuje, enters the emerging contest with a formal endorsement from the Fai Sultanate and a council of elders and delegates.
On July 29 this year 56 delegates participated in the selection that declared him the community’s preferred candidate. The endorsement was intended to provide a common political vehicle for a sub-clan that has historically been influential in Tarbaj and Wajir East.
Hassan has previously contested the gubernatorial seat and finished second in 2022, giving him direct experience of a countywide campaign. His current profile also includes his business interests and ownership of Nairobi South Hospital, as reported in local coverage.
The endorsement nevertheless exposed unresolved differences within Fai. Ugas Sheikh Mohamed, Hassan Wehliye and former governor Mohamed Abdi questioned aspects of the selection process, with Ugas withdrawing from the exercise and Hassan Wehliye raising concerns about transparency and procedural fairness.
Those objections are the candidates’ stated positions and should not be treated as independently established findings. The significance is political: an endorsement designed to consolidate support can only achieve that purpose to the extent that those who disagree with the process accept its outcome or negotiate a settlement.
Ugas Sheikh Mohamed brings a different professional background to the race. He is the chairperson of the Capital Markets Authority, having been appointed to the position in February 2023, and has experience in information technology, strategic management and development work.
He previously served on the board of the ICT Authority. His public-sector leadership experience and business background form part of his political profile, while his disagreement with the Fai endorsement leaves his next steps important to watch.
Ugas has also been involved in previous political negotiations, including stepping aside in favour of Mohamed Abdi in 2017 after initially securing elders’ support. Whether he participates in a broader political arrangement or maintains an independent campaign remains a question for the coming months.
Hassan Wehliye, an official associated with the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission, is another contender whose political history is closely connected to the Fai consensus process. During the 2022 election cycle, he was initially identified as the community’s preferred candidate before withdrawing from the race and the elders subsequently rallying behind Hassan Mohamed Adan.
He has since questioned the 2027 selection process. His experience illustrates how a negotiated political arrangement can change the field before voters cast a ballot. His challenge is to establish whether his objections will lead to a revised agreement, continued competition or a separate political path.
His public-service background is relevant to his profile, but any assessment of his gubernatorial programme requires direct scrutiny of his proposals for county services, finances and development.
Former Cabinet Secretary Mohamed Elmi also remains part of the Fai political equation. He has served as Wajir East MP and held a Cabinet-level position, and he currently has a non-executive leadership role with the National Livestock Development and Promotion Service.
His experience in elected politics and national government gives him a profile extending beyond county-level mobilisation. He contested the 2022 gubernatorial election and received 21,047 votes. His political challenge is to translate that previous electoral support into a coherent campaign while navigating the Fai endorsement and the wider negotiations among competing aspirants.
As with the other contenders, a formal statement of his position on the endorsement and his current campaign plans would be necessary before drawing firmer conclusions.
Former governor Mohamed Abdi Mohamud is another experienced figure in the contest. He served as Wajir governor from 2017 to 2022 after a political process in which the Fai Sultanate backed his candidacy. In the current cycle, he has declared an intention to seek the seat again and publicly rejected reports that he had joined or endorsed a political formation involving other aspirants. He has also criticised the Fai selection process.
His previous tenure gives him an established record that voters can examine, including his administration’s achievements, shortcomings and handling of county priorities. His return places him in a position where past governance and current political relationships are likely to feature prominently in public debate.
Matan, The Ogaden question and the wider contest
The Matan community, another Degodia sub-clan, is central to the emerging race. Governor Ahmed Abdullahi Jiir, whose political base has been associated with Wajir West, comes from Matan and won the 2022 election. His administration’s record will inevitably form part of the wider debate over succession, even as attention shifts to the aspirants seeking to succeed him.
The Matan political process has involved Yahya Mohamed Dahiye, Ahmed Kolosh and Omar Sheikh Ali, whose competing ambitions show that a shared community identity does not necessarily produce a single political choice.
Yahya Mohamed Dahiye, currently Wajir County Chief Officer for Finance, has pursued an energetic grassroots campaign. Reports in August and September described endorsements from women, youth and professionals within his Matan community, alongside his efforts to secure broader backing through elders’ consultations.
He has also taken his campaign directly to residents, including market visits and community engagements. That approach gives him an opportunity to build visibility beyond formal meetings and negotiated endorsements. His present public-service role is relevant to questions about county finances and administration, but his campaign should be assessed on clearly articulated plans, including how he would improve revenue collection, budget execution, service delivery and accountability.
Reports of support from particular groups should not be confused with a verified endorsement by every Matan elder or family.
Ahmed Kolosh Mohamed brings elected experience to the race. He represented Wajir West in Parliament from 2017 to 2022, having won the seat in the 2017 election and subsequently returned through a 2019 by-election after the earlier result was nullified. He is now seeking the governorship.
On August 12, the Reer Aw-Mohamud family endorsed him to represent it in the 2027 gubernatorial contest. The family endorsement is an important development, but it does not by itself establish that the entire Matan community has selected him as its sole candidate.
Kolosh’s parliamentary record, constituency experience and proposed countywide agenda are central issues for voters to examine. His transition from constituency representation to a countywide bid will require him to explain how his priorities would extend beyond Wajir West.
Omar Sheikh Ali, a former managing director of the Ewaso Nyiro South Development Authority, is another Matan aspirant. He has said that his family, the Gafow Mohamud, endorsed him in June 2026 and has challenged the process that led to Kolosh’s endorsement by the Reer Aw-Mohamud family.
He also stated that he had received family backing in 2013 before stepping aside in the interest of Matan solidarity in favour of Ahmed Abdullahi. These claims are attributed to his public statement and require consideration alongside the positions of the other parties involved.
His previous development-sector leadership offers a basis for assessing his experience, while the competing endorsements raise questions about whether the community can reach a mutually accepted arrangement.
Dr Mohamed Abdi Affey adds a diplomatic dimension to the emerging field. He is a former Wajir South MP, former Kenyan ambassador to Somalia and former IGAD Special Envoy to Somalia; he has also held a senior role with the UN refugee agency. His career spans elected politics, diplomacy and regional affairs. Affey who is from the Maqabul sub-clan of the Ogaden community.
Reports of his interest in the Wajir governorship and of Ogaden elders considering an endorsement make him a figure to monitor, but a formal declaration and an official endorsement should be confirmed directly before publication as settled facts.
His diplomatic background may inform the experience he brings to a potential campaign, but voters would need to hear his concrete proposals for county governance and public services.
The contest, therefore, is not simply a competition between Fai and Matan. It is a broader test of how candidates build alliances across Wajir’s communities, whether through family endorsements, professional networks, grassroots outreach or countywide policy commitments.
Clan consultations remain an important feature of political mobilisation, but they are neither official electoral nominations nor substitutes for voters’ independent decisions.
As the 2027 General Election approaches, Wajir’s aspirants will be judged not only by the endorsements they secure but also by the credibility of their records, the clarity of their development plans and their willingness to address the county’s needs.
Water security, health services, roads, education, livestock livelihoods, youth employment and transparent management of public funds should sit at the centre of the debate. For residents, the decisive question is what each candidate proposes to deliver and how those commitments will be measured.