MOGADISHU (Kaab TV) – On Friday, Somalia’s Bantu community laid to rest their military commander, General Sheegow Ahmed Ali, who died under suspicious circumstances after spending 20 months in detention in Mogadishu.
General Sheegow, a decorated officer and prominent figure from Somalia’s marginalized Bantu minority, was arrested in August 2023 following a deadly raid on his residence.
The operation, carried out by soldiers from the Hawiye clan—a historically rival group to the Bantu—left more than a dozen of his personal security guards dead, including his son.
Following the raid, General Sheegow and 20 of his men were charged in a murky military court process that has since drawn criticism.
The court sentenced his men to prison terms ranging from 3 to 10 years, while General Sheegow himself was facing a 10-year sentence.
The Somali government also disputed his military rank, refusing to recognize him as a general.
In the weeks leading up to his death, reports emerged that General Sheegow’s health had sharply deteriorated, and he required urgent medical attention.
According to his family, delays in transferring him from prison to receive medical care worsened his condition.
He was eventually moved to Digfer Hospital in Mogadishu, where he died on Monday, April 7.
His death triggered widespread outrage from the Bantu community, who staged protests in Mogadishu demanding an investigation and accountability.
Demonstrations in Mogadishu escalated
Before his body was transported to Jowhar—his hometown in Middle Shabelle—hundreds of mourners, including women and men, gathered outside the hospital, some carrying his body on their shoulders while chanting prayers and recalling the long history of marginalization faced by the Bantu people.
“We want to know why it took so long for Sheegow to receive medical attention. He died without proper care,” said Maryan Mudey, one of the mourners present at the hospital.
Protester Ibrahim Yasin added, “We want to show the world that we are being deliberately targeted and continuously marginalized.”
The body was later airlifted to Jowhar, where General Sheegow was buried on Friday as hundreds of Bantu elders gathered to bid him a final farewell.
Demonstrations in Mogadishu escalated, with other local residents joining the protests in solidarity.
Somali police responded with force, dispersing the crowds with live ammunition, resulting in the death of at least one protester.
The Somali federal government initially remained silent about General Sheegow’s deteriorating health and death.
However, amid growing public pressure, Minister of Health Ali Haji Adam issued a statement acknowledging that Sheegow had become seriously ill while in custody and was released to receive medical treatment.
“Unfortunately, he passed away while doctors were trying to save his life,” the minister said.
Still, this explanation failed to quell public anger.
On Friday, Military Court Judge Liban Ali Yarrow released a pre-recorded video statement, saying that the court had ordered Sheegow’s release due to his poor health and that he was awaiting a visa to travel to India for treatment. “
He died on April 7 while waiting for the visa process to be completed,” the judge said.
General Sheegow’s death has once again brought into focus the historical marginalization of the Bantu community in southern Somalia.
The Somali Bantu—also known as Jareer Weyne—are an ethnic minority primarily residing in southern regions near the Jubba and Shabelle rivers.
Descended from various Bantu ethnic groups brought to Somalia through the East African slave trade during the 18th and 19th centuries, they have long faced systemic discrimination.
Unlike the dominant Somali clans, the Bantu have struggled with limited access to education, healthcare, land rights, and political representation.
They are frequently subjected to slurs like adoon (meaning “slave”), a reflection of deep-rooted prejudice.
The marginalization worsened after the outbreak of Somalia’s civil war in 1991, as the Bantu—lacking the protection of powerful clan alliances—were systematically targeted.
Militias from dominant clans seized their lands, destroyed villages, and committed widespread human rights abuses, including sexual violence and forced displacement.
General Sheegow’s death also underscores the double standards in Somalia’s justice system.
While he died in custody for lack of medical care, other high-profile individuals from powerful clans—such as Hassan Dahir Aweys, the former co-founder of extremist groups and a member of the Hawiye clan—lives under lenient house arrest with his several wives.
Moreover, several former militant commanders from the Hawiye community currently hold influential positions within Somalia’s security institutions.
The Bantu community is demanding justice—not only for General Sheegow but for the broader pattern of exclusion and abuse they continue to endure in Somali society.