Voters in Somalia’s Southwest State have created history by electing two female candidates as their newest senators.
The election of the two female senators could help Somalia’s quest for realizing the elusive gender equality.
Somalia’s patriarchal society is notoriously hesitant to elect women to elective positions.
Zamzam Ibrahim Ali won her elections by a landslide with 81 votes out of the 92 that were cast over the weekend.
Ali’s opponent was another woman, Shariifo Osman.
Ayan Aden Abdullahi won the other contest after defeating Farhiya Nur Aden by 78 votes to 8 in a rather one-sided elections.
Ayan’s victory is more impressive owing to her tender age. She was born in 1991 just at the onset of the country’s civil war.
Southwest joins Jubbaland as the two Federal Member States (FMS) to hold senatorial elections in an intense electioneering period that’s scheduled to last a month.