Isiolo elders, leaders unite to back late MP Tubi's child as successor
North Eastern
By
Ali Abdi
| Nov 17, 2025
A section of Isiolo communities, led by elders, wants one of the children of the late Isiolo South MP Mohamed Tubi to contest the seat.
The groups, comprising elders from the dominant Borana clans, members of the Borana Council of Elders (BCE), professionals and women representatives, made the declaration on Saturday after the end of the traditional mourning period for the MP, who died last Wednesday at a Nairobi hospital after a long illness.
Representatives of the Sakuye, Gabra and Somali clans, as well as delegates from a rival political camp, were also present at the half-day meeting. The groups stated that the flag-bearer for the seat, which is yet to be formally declared vacant, should come exclusively from among Tubi’s children “to complete the late MP’s agenda for the constituents and to take care of the orphans”.
The declaration will stand until the 2027 General Election, after which other aspirants may contest, while the family’s preferred candidate would be free to seek re-election. Tubi leaves behind nine children, including four from his third wife, the late Rahma, who died shortly before the 2022 election.
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It is now up to the immediate family to decide who among the children will ‘inherit’ the seat. Family spokesperson Abdirahman Guyo Tubi told The Standard yesterday that discussions had begun. “Consultations are ongoing and, for now, there is no preference among the nine siblings,” said Abdirahman, who is one of their paternal uncles.
The meeting was co-chaired by veteran politician Haji Charfano Mokku and former BCE chairman Haji Abdullahi Gonjobe, with former County Council of Isiolo chairman Hussein Ali Abduba serving as master of ceremonies.
Also present were current BCE chairman Mohamed Konso Hallo, Jima-Maliyu faction chairman Mohammed Ali Mudale and the faction’s secretary general, Ahmed Wako Happi. Professionals were led by Ibrahim Jirma Duba, while former EACC CEO Halakhe Dida and Speaker of a faction of the Isiolo County Assembly, Mohammed Roba, attended as well.
Mudale noted that community tradition dictates that “when a breadwinner dies, someone close to him should take over the responsibilities he held while alive”. Happi, allied to the political camp of Governor Abdi Guyo and Woman Representative Mumina Bonaya, said they would support the elders’ decision to back a candidate from the late MP’s family.
Buke Gollo, an elder from the Hawatu clan in Kinna division and a former councillor, said the children were best placed to complete key projects their father had initiated and planned to finish by 2027. Many observers believe that sympathy and the need to care for the dependants often drive communities to back a close relative of a deceased leader.
Historical precedent supports this trend. In the 1992 by-election for Isiolo North, the late Ahmed Halake Fayo’s younger brother Hussein was endorsed by elders and won unopposed. In the 2006 Saku and Moyale by-elections following a plane crash that killed several Marsabit MPs, the late Abdi Tari Sasura and Guracha Galgalo were succeeded by their brothers, Hussein and Wario, respectively.
According to County Communication Director Hussein Salesa, both Governor Guyo and Woman Representative Mumina have confirmed they will abide by the elders’ declaration “out of respect for the late MP and in solidarity with the family and the people of Isiolo South”.