Isiolo County Woman Representative Mumina Bonaya has raised the alarm on the surging cases of insecurity, which led to the shooting of the Secretary General of the Somali Council of Elders, Idle Hassan Ibrahim, on Friday, August 8, 2025.

Bonaya warned that Isiolo town was on the brink of descending into chaos, with the streets flooded with seemingly unregistered firearms.

According to the legislator, residents are living under constant fear as armed individuals roam the streets with growing impunity. She attributed the worsening security situation to political tensions in the county.

Impeachment attempt jitters

“Bonaya fingered the recent attempt to impeach the Governor of Isiolo as the spark behind the deepened divisions within the county government. This, she noted, had emboldened armed groups, leading to more brazen and violent incidents,” a statement from the National Assembly reads in part.

An attempt by the County Assembly of Isiolo on July 8, 2025, to impeach Governor Abdi Guyo failed after the Senate ruled the process undertaken by the Assembly was invalid.

In the decisive vote, 31 senators sided with the objections, effectively terminating the impeachment motion, while 12 voted to proceed with the trial.

In a session on Tuesday, July 8, 2025, marked by sharp legal scrutiny, senators upheld preliminary objections raised by the governor’s legal team, who argued that the assembly failed to follow due process and disregarded a court order halting the proceedings. The objections questioned the legality of the County Assembly’s sitting and whether the motion was properly debated and passed.

Shooting of an elder

Citing the attack in which the Secretary General of the Somali Council of Elders was shot three times by assailants as he was attending the Friday prayers at the Jamia mosque in Isiolo, Bonaya described the incident as a targeted act meant to intimidate and undermine public confidence in security agencies.

She sought answers on, among other things, the immediate measures on the disarmament of individuals in Isiolo Town who are in possession of illegal firearms.

Bonaya further called on the Committee on Administration and Internal Security to outline specific measures being taken by the government to curb the surge in insecurity.

She equally demanded that those responsible for the attack on Ibrahim be arrested and prosecuted without delay.