Mogadishu (PP News Desk) — The self-styled Brigadier General Sadaq John (Sadaq Omar Hassan) came to prominence in 2021 when he managed to block a parliamentary session aimed at expediting a controversial term extension for the government and the bicameral legislature in Mogadishu. In December 2022, he married Haybado Ismail, the daughter of Djibouti President Ismail Omar Guelleh.
The wedding was unique for its combination of nuptial tradition and a political alliance linking Mogadishu, Hargeisa and Djibouti. The former President of the Somaliland Administration, Muse Bihi Abdi, accepted a request from Sadaq’s family to give President Guelleh’s daughter’s hand in marriage. Bihi is a distant maternal uncle of the bride. President of the Federal Republic of Somalia Hassan Sheikh Mohamud travelled with Sadaq from Mogadishu to Djibouti for the event. His role was understood to be that of an honorary elder of the bridegroom.
That political alliance officially ended today after Brigadier General Sadaq John posted a warning to President Mohamud on his Facebook account. “Peace in Dhuusamareeb is inseparable from peace in Wardhiigley,” Sadaq wrote in Somali.
His choice of Wardhiigley, the old name for Warta Nabadda where Villa Somalia, the presidency, is located, is apt.
The Federal Interior Ministry issuer guidelines on one person, one vote elections would be held in Galmudug to elect a new President for the Federal Member State. Galmudug President Ahmed Abdi Kariye (Qoorqoor), who is a cousin of Sadaq John, is expected to be replaced by a new President. Qoorqoor has delayed elections in an attempt to harmonise Galmudug presidential elections with federal presidential elections. Villa Somalia defended his indefinite tenure extension.
Today, after the Eid al-Adha prayer, Qoorqoor appeared to object to any elections in Galmudug being overseen by the Federal Interior Ministry. His chances of remaining in power may be severely diminished if his rivals interpret his motives as an attempt to prolong his rule in Galmudug.
The subtly violent language used by Brigadier General Sadaq today in his Facebook post hints at tougher political times in Galmudug, a Federal Member State that was expanded after the Ximin & Xeer and Ahlu Sunna Wal Jama’ a constituencies were incorporated into a new Galmudug State with its headquarters in Dhuusamareeb eleven years ago. South Galkayo was the administrative capital when Galmudug was established in 2006.
© Puntland Post, 2026