Somalia’s Supreme Court has annulled the results of last month’s elections for the House of Representatives and local councils in Galmudug state and ordered fresh elections.

The decision, announced by Chief Justice and President of Supreme Court Justice Bashi Yusuf Ahmed, said the administration and conduct of the elections deviated from the constitutional principles of free, fair and impartial elections.

The court said the irregularities identified were not minor but seriously undermined the transparency, freedom and fairness of the elections and affected their outcome.

“The Supreme Court therefore annulled the results of the July 30, 2026, elections and ordered the Independent National Electoral and Boundaries Commission (NIEBC) to hold new elections for the Galmudug House of Representatives and local councils,” Bashi said.

The court directed that the new elections be held as soon as possible and in full compliance with Somalia’s Federal Constitution, Electoral Law, Law on the Establishment of Committees, and Law on Political Parties and Organizations.

To avoid an administrative vacuum that could disrupt public services and stability in Galmudug, the court ruled that the existing institutions should remain in office until new institutions are elected in accordance with the law.

The ruling came after the Towfiiq Party and other political organizations that contested the elections challenged the results, saying they were not consistent with electoral laws.

Towfiiq Party had rejected the official results of Galmudug’s first one-person, one-vote local council elections, accusing the electoral commission of manipulating the vote count and failing to reflect the will of voters.

The party said the NIEBC undermined public confidence in the electoral process by announcing results that it claimed did not match vote tallies recorded by its representatives at polling stations.

The electoral commission had declared the ruling Justice and Solidarity Party (JSP), led by President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, the winner of the elections.

According to NIEBC Chairman Abdikarim Ahmed Hassan, JSP received 135,247 of the 193,451 valid votes cast, securing 63 of the 189 local council seats contested across Galmudug.

Towfiiq finished second with 26,003 votes and won 12 seats. Sincad secured six seats with 12,862 votes, while Karaamo won five seats after receiving 10,668 votes.

The electoral commission had not publicly responded to Towfiiq’s allegations or indicated whether it would review the results before the Supreme Court ruling.

Ali Hassan, an investigative and a freelance journalist writes from Stadthagen, Germany. [email protected]