UNDERSTANDING THE FORMATION AND OPERATION OF LOCAL COUNCILS IN SOUTHWEST, HIRSHABELLE, AND GALMUDUG STATES

In particular, it zooms in on the current status of the District Council Formation (DCF) at the FMSs, hindrances that the DCF process has faced in the districts where the process was implemented; obstacles underlying the functionality of the formed DCs; the ex/inclusivity of the process; and the challenges that hampered the launching and/ or implementation of the DCF process in the main accessible. [...] The study attempts to investigate the hindrances to the DCF process in these FMSs; the challenges to forming district councils (DCs) in the accessible urban centers in the three FMSs; and the obstacles to the functionality of the formed DCs. [...] According to sources close to the event, the situation escalated after the SWS Interior Ministry tried to ignore an agreement reached by the Tuni, the dominant clan in Barawe, and Hawiye clans in the district that recognized the representation of the latter in the DC. [...] This resolved the main source of the challenge that had stifled the progress of the process.25 On the heels of this, the few subsequent stages for the DCF completion were concluded (including the delegate selection, training of the delegates, election of district councilors, and election of the mayor and deputies) in the last two weeks of October 2023. [...] 72 Quality and competence of councilors The issue of the quality and competence of the councilors emerged at the forefront of the issues attributed to the dysfunctionality of the DCs in the three FMSs.