The resignation of Muse Salad Wehliye, just days after his appointment, exposes the widening political rupture between Jowhar and Beledweyne, with Hiraan’s grievances increasingly challenging the authority of Hirshabelle’s regional leadership.

BELEDWEYNE (WDN) – In a stunning setback for Hirshabelle President Ali Gudlawe, the newly appointed governor of Hiraan region, Muse Salad Wehliye, has resigned just days after taking office, delivering a humiliating blow to an administration increasingly struggling to maintain its authority in Beledweyne.

The abrupt resignation is more than an administrative setback. It exposes the widening political gulf between Jowhar, the seat of the Hirshabelle administration, and Beledweyne, where longstanding grievances among the Hawadle community are increasingly turning into an open challenge to the regional government’s legitimacy.

In a resignation statement issued on Sunday evening, Wehliye informed President Gudlawe and his deputy, Abdifatah Hassan Afrah, that he was stepping down because of fundamental disagreements over how the administration intended to address Hiraan’s political grievances.

He said he could not reconcile his position with the approach adopted by Hirshabelle’s senior leadership, adding that his decision was guided by his conscience, principles and commitment to the people of Hiraan, who continue to face difficult political and security circumstances.

The governor’s departure is particularly embarrassing for Gudlawe because Wehliye had been appointed only days earlier in an apparent attempt to restore confidence in the regional administration and counter the growing opposition movement in Beledweyne.

Instead of consolidating the government’s position, the appointment has exposed the administration’s inability to agree even with its own newly installed representative on how to address the crisis.

Jowhar and Beledweyne drifting further apart

The resignation comes against the backdrop of escalating tensions between Hiraan’s political leadership and the Hirshabelle administration in Jowhar. The Hawadle community has long complained of marginalization and inadequate representation in the regional administration, grievances that have increasingly translated into resistance against Gudlawe’s leadership.

Wehliye’s decision to resign rather than defend the administration’s position is particularly significant. It suggests that the disagreements are no longer confined to opposition politicians or traditional leaders in Beledweyne but are also affecting individuals appointed by Jowhar to represent the regional government.

In a further indication of the widening political divide, Wehliye subsequently visited Hawadle traditional leader Ugas Hassan Ugas Khalif in Beledweyne, where opponents of the Hirshabelle administration have been gathering.

His decision to seek an audience with the traditional leadership at the center of the opposition movement, immediately after resigning, sends a powerful political message about where the administration’s efforts to secure cooperation are failing.

Opositions gains momentum

The political confrontation has been further intensified by the growing activities of an opposition movement in Beledweyne led by former National Intelligence and Security Agency director Abdullahi Mohamed Ali Sanbaloolshe.

Sanbaloolshe has been organizing opposition to the Hirshabelle administration, drawing on longstanding grievances over Hiraan’s political status and its relationship with Jowhar.

Wehliye’s appointment had followed the decision of his predecessor to align himself with the opposition movement, prompting Gudlawe to seek a replacement capable of restoring the administration’s influence in the region.

But the new governor’s swift resignation has undermined that strategy and raised further questions about the administration’s ability to retain even those it appoints.

A growing crisis of authority

The implications extend beyond the resignation of one regional official. Hirshabelle is facing an increasingly serious crisis of political cohesion, with Jowhar and Beledweyne appearing to move in opposite directions at an alarming speed.

For President Gudlawe, the immediate challenge is no longer simply finding another governor. It is persuading Hiraan’s political leaders, traditional authorities and influential communities that the regional administration is prepared to address their grievances through a credible political settlement.

The resignation of a governor appointed only days earlier demonstrates the limits of appointments as a substitute for political reconciliation. Without an agreement on Hiraan’s grievances and its place within Hirshabelle’s political structure, replacing one official with another is unlikely to reverse the growing alienation.

What was initially an attempt by Jowhar to contain opposition in Beledweyne has instead become another demonstration of the administration’s weakening political reach.

Wehliye’s resignation is therefore a direct political embarrassment for Gudlawe and a warning that the relationship between Jowhar and Beledweyne is deteriorating far beyond the reach of routine administrative reshuffles. Unless the underlying dispute is addressed, Hirshabelle risks becoming increasingly divided, with its formal institutions in Jowhar exercising diminishing influence over a region that is progressively asserting its political independence.

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