The South West State of Somalia (, ) is a federal member state in southwestern Somalia. It was founded by Hasan Muhammad Nur Shatigadud, leader of the Somalia RRA on 1 April 2002. It was the third autonomous region to be established.
After its dissolution in 2005, the territory was re-established in November 2009 as an official federal member state of Somalia. Sharif Hassan was selected the president of this state. The official capital of South-West state is Barawa, located on the coast of the Somali Sea, though the state administration is currently based in Baidoa.
Location and name The South West state is bordered to the north by Ethiopia, to the west by Jubaland, to the east by Hirshabelle, and to the south by the Somali Sea. To the southeast, it is also bordered by Banaadir, whose administrative status was unclear during the 2010s.
During its development phase, the regional state was called the Interim South West Administration. Its full name was the South West State of Somalia and, in Somali, Maamul Goboleedka Koonfur Galbeed. In the local Maay Maay language it is referred to as Koofur Orsi. An individual from Koofur Orsi is called a Koofur Orsian.Pelizzari, Elisa. "Guerre civile et question de genre en Somalie. Les événements et leurs retombées sur le destin d’une femme: Starlin Abdi Arush (1957–2002)," Cahiers du Genre 1 (2018): 193–213.
History Background During the pre-independence period, when the Koofur Orsi or Koonfur-Galbeed region was administered by the United Nations Trusteeship, the majority segment population of Digil and Mirifle were the only major Somali demographic whose political groups and spokesmen voiced apprehension about a centralized unitary republic. Many of these spokesmen voiced a preference for some form of confederalism or federalism. Several decades after independence, opposition to Siad Barre's Hantiwadaag (socialist) government grew. When in 1990 the three major opposition factions of SPM, USC, and SNM met in Ethiopia and put forth an informal accord in favor of federalism, many civil servants from the Konfuur-Galbeed region argued that, in retrospect, the predecessors in their region were correct. In 1992, the blockage of aid supplies from the coast to the Konfuur-Galbeed region meant that many viewed the famine as man-made. This increased support for federalism.Elmi, Afyare Abdi, and Abdullahi Barise. "The Somali Conflict: Root causes, obstacles, and peace-building strategies." African Security Studies 15.1 (2006): 32–54.Frumence Pascal, Mouna. Le conflit somalien et les Nations Unies. Diss. Grenoble Alpes, 2018. One form of criticism that was levelled at the Konfuur-Galbeed administration during its early development is that some of its functional facets hearkened back to the negative aspects of the era of the historically conterminous Geledi. The latter's tributary status was believed to inculcate subordinacy rather than self-sufficiency, an administration that was oligarchical rather than egalitarian, and too much contrast with the historically British Jubaland to its west and south.Hills, Alice. "II. Policing Mogadishu." Whitehall Papers 91.1 (2017): 24–48.
Contemporary The territory known as the Southwestern State of Somalia (Somali: Dowlad Goboleedka Koonfur-Galbeed ee Soomaaliya), or locally Koofur Orsi, was originally intended to consist of six Somali administrative regions: (gobollo): Bay, Bakool, Middle Jubba (Jubbada Dhexe), Lower Shabelle (Shabeellada Hoose), Gedo and Lower Jubba (Jubbada Hoose). The establishment of the autonomous state was intended to express the disaffection of the Somalia State with the nascent Mogadishu-based Transitional National Government. It was also intended to counter the influence of the Somalia Reconciliation and Restoration Council in the same regions. In 2005, the state was dissolved after its leader Shatigadud had joined the Transitional Federal Parliament in November 2004. He became Minister of Finance in January 2005 in the Transitional Federal Government, successor to the Transitional National Government.
The coast of Koofur Orsi is primarily settled by Biimaal clan, but also the Barwani, other coastal Banadiri communities, and the Sheekhaal. The interior and the bulk of Koofur Orsi are populated mainly by the Rahanweyn clan, who are located between the Hawiye to the east in Hirshabelle, and the Marehan and other Darod clans to the west in Jubaland.Muse, Hirat Abdi. "The Political Crisis in Somalia and the Clan System: A Sociological Review of News Media Analyses." (2019).
On 17 March 2026, the state severed ties with the federal government over issues related to Somalia's ongoing constitutional crisis and allegations by State President Abdiaziz Laftagareen of an attempted coup against him by federal forces. Commercial flights between Mogadishu and Baidoa have been halted, but humanitarian flights continue.Reuters. "Somalia's South West state says it has severed ties with the federal government." (17 March 2026). https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/somalia-s-south-west-state-says-it-has-severed-ties-with-the-federal-government/ar-AA1YPvuJ?uxmode=ruby&ocid=edgntpruby&pc=LCTS&cvid=69b97a072eb7441cad4aa6b624918fcc&ei=8 Somalian federal forces would recapture Baidoa on March 30, stating that the city "looks like a ghost town" and prompting the regional leader's resignation.
Politics
Conventions In December 2013, a convention began in Baidoa between Federal Government officials and local representatives with the aim of establishing an autonomous state in the area under the Provision Federal Constitution. Two simultaneous political processes for the establishment of a new Southwestern State of Somalia were underway: one led by former Parliament Speaker Sharif Hassan Sheikh Adan, which proposed a three-region state consisting of the Bay, Bakool and Lower Shabelle provinces; another led by traditional elders of Digil Mirifle, which proposed instead the re-establishment of a six-region Southwestern Somalia state consisting of the Bay, Bakool and Lower Shabelle, Gedo, Middle Jubba and Lower Jubba provinces.
Presidency On 3 March 2014, Ali Hassan Abdirahman was elected president by supporters of the six-region state proposal. Internal and Federal Affairs Minister Abdullahi Godah Barre indicated that the Somali federal government would not recognize the six-region convention outcome, as it contravenes an earlier Jubba agreement signed in Addis Ababa between the Somali federal authorities and the autonomous Jubbaland administration in southwestern Somalia. The Jubba agreement stipulates that Jubaland's constituent provinces are instead to be administered by the Jubaland regional authorities. Addressing the 425th meeting of the AU Peace and Security Council on 25 March 2014, UN Special Representative for Somalia Nicholas Kay similarly indicated that he would continue to work closely with the AU, EU and IGAD to support a Somali federal government-led three-region state formation process for the southwestern provinces.
On 27 March 2014, 733 delegates in Baidoa representing the Bay, Bakool and Lower Shabelle regions elected Mohamed Haji Abdinur as president of the Southwestern State of Somalia. Abdinur is a veteran politician and a close ally of former Parliament Speaker Sharif Hassan Sheikh Adan. Of the representatives that took part in the three-region state elections, 723 voted in favor of Abdinur while 10 abstained.
On 30 March 2014, the President of Somalia Hassan Sheikh Mohamud visited Baidoa to defuse political tension between the two competing Southwestern State delegations. The autonomous Puntland regional administration in northeastern Somalia issued a statement the following day congratulating Abdinur on his election as president of the Southwestern State. The Puntland State House also expressed support for the three-region state process in Baidoa and indicated that the Puntland authorities were prepared to provide technical and experience-related assistance to the nascent federal state.
Allotment On 22 June 2014, the federal government concluded its mediation between the supporters of the parallel three-region and six-region processes for a new Southwestern State of Somalia. Wings from both sides had reportedly reached an agreement on the prospective regional state's formation. On 23 June 2014, the office of Federal Parliament Speaker Mohamed Osman Jawari hosted an event announcing the merger of the two competing administrations into a single three-region state, which is to be composed of the Bay, Bakool and Lower Shabelle provinces.
Koofur Galbeed administration
Establishment On 23 June 2014, President of Somalia Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, Prime Minister Abdiweli Sheikh Ahmed, and Parliament Speaker Mohamed Osman Jawari oversaw a ceremony in Mogadishu marking the merger of the two competing administrations into a single three-region state, which is to be composed of the Bay, Bakool and Lower Shabelle provinces. The pact stipulates that the new polity will be led by an Interim South West Administration consisting of representatives from both sides. According to an official press communique, the opposing sides are slated to form a thirteen-member technical committee, appointing five members apiece to the body alongside three members selected by the Federal Government. The panel is then within ten days scheduled to prepare a roadmap for the interim administration's formation. Additionally, the Federal Government is to facilitate consultations between the Interim South West Administration and Jubaland over mutual concerns and interests. The UN Special Representative for Somalia Nicholas Kay, the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, the Special Representative of the Chairperson of the African Union Mission Commission for Somalia Mahamat Saleh Annadif, and the U.S. Special Representative for Somalia James P. McAnulty all welcomed the Southwestern State of Somalia agreement, commended the principals on their constructive consultations, acknowledged the Federal Government's key role in facilitating the talks, and pledged to continue supporting the local post-conflict reconstruction process. On 25 June 2014, the federal cabinet unanimously approved the signed accord.
On 16 July 2014, the establishment of the Technical Committee on Formation of Interim South West Administration was announced and endorsed at a formal ceremony in Mogadishu. The panel is to be supported by a group of federal ministers under the authority of the Prime Minister.
In September 2014, Parliament Speaker Mohamed Osman Jawari and UN Special Representative for Somalia Nicholas Kay visited Baidoa to finalize talks over the South West state's formation. Jawari subsequently announced that a reconciliation conference would be held in the city on 14 September to unify the competing three-region and six-region local administrations. Prime Minister Abdiweli Sheikh Ahmed opened the summit, which was attended by Lower Shabelle, Bay and Bakool provincial representatives, clan elders and politicians.
In October 2014, President Mohamud opened a state formation conference in Baidoa for the three-region Southwestern State of Somalia. The UN-financed summit was attended by 380 delegates from the state's constituent Bay, Bakool and Lower Shabelle provinces, as well as UN Envoy to Somalia Nicholas Kay, IGAD Envoy to Somalia Mohamed Abdi Affey, and the Ambassador of Denmark to Somalia, among other officials. On 7 November 2014, the Southwestern State of Somalia was established, following the conclusion of the two-week Baidoa conference. The delegates from the new regional state's constituent Bay, Bakool and Lower Shabelle provinces unanimously agreed to make Barawe its capital. They also approved a new regional state constitution. On 17 November 2014, former Parliament Speaker Sharif Hassan Sheikh Adan was elected President of the three-region Southwestern State of Somalia.