# Degoodi (Degodia, Dagodia)

> The Degoodi (Degodia) of Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia: family tree, Hawiye or Gardheere, Wajir, Mandera and Liban, the Wabar, and where sources differ.

Source page: https://calankii.com/en/society/degoodi/
Last checked: 2026-11-12
Publisher: Calankii (https://calankii.com)

## Name and family tree

The Degoodi are a Somali clan living across Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia. The name is also written Degodia, Dagodia and Degodiye. Sources disagree on their clan family, as the table shows.

| Source | Line it gives |
|---|---|
| Abbink 2009 | Hawiye > Gugundabe > Degodiye ([Abbink, *The Total Somali Clan Genealogy*, 2009, p. 29](https://hdl.handle.net/1887/14007)) |
| World Bank 2005 | Lists the Degoodi among the "Hawiye associates" ([World Bank, *Conflict in Somalia: Drivers and Dynamics*, 2005, Appendix 2](https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/entities/publication/b2109b26-2d10-5ac6-85c2-dbfa820c5f6e)) |
| Wikipedia (backup) | Samaale > Gardheere > Garjante > Adow > Saransoor > Degodia, citing a 2004 Max Planck Institute study ([Wikipedia, Degodia, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Degoodi)) |
| Somali Wikipedia (backup) | Gardheere Samaale > Saransoor, with Gaaljecel, Masarre and Ciise as brother lines ([Somali Wikipedia, Dagoodi, backup](https://so.wikipedia.org/wiki/Degoodi)) |
| Kenya census 2019 | Counts the Degodia as a group of their own, among Kenyan Somalis ([KNBS, Ethnic affiliation, 2019 census](https://new.knbs.or.ke/ethnic-affiliation/)) |

ACLED's 2025 clan list does not code a Degoodi group. See [the Hawiye tree](/en/society/somali-clan-tree-hawiye/) and [Gaaljecel](/en/society/gaaljecel/), whom both lines place close to the Degoodi.

## Main branches

Abbink lists these lines under Degodiye (Abbink 2009, p. 29):

1. Masare
2. Fardanow
3. Midhimaal
4. Gelible
5. Dumaal
6. Jibrail
7. Fau
8. Reer Mohamud
9. Mau
10. Samatar

Wikipedia and Somali Wikipedia instead treat Masarre as a brother line of the Degoodi, not a section of it. Neither gives a list of Degoodi sections.

## Where they live

No census in Somalia counts people by clan. ACCORD notes that Somalis often claim more members than their groups have, "in order to demonstrate strength" ([ACCORD, *Clans in Somalia*, 2009, p. 11](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1193130/90_1261130976_accord-report-clans-in-somaliarevised-edition-20091215.pdf)).

| Place | What the sources record |
|---|---|
| Kenya | The KNBS table of Kenya's 2019 census lists 515,948 Degodia (KNBS 2019). Wikipedia calls them the largest Somali clan in north-eastern Kenya and the majority in Wajir County. It also names Mandera North (Wikipedia, Degodia, backup) |
| Ethiopia | Wikipedia says they have a very large presence in the Liban zone of the Somali Region (same source) |
| Somalia | Wikipedia places them in the south near the Kenyan and Ethiopian borders, including Gedo and Jubaland, and in Mogadishu and Kismayo (same source) |

Wikipedia's shares for Wajir, Mandera and Liban come from "community estimates", not a census. See [Somalis in Kenya](/en/diaspora/kenya/) and [Gedo](/en/regions/gedo/).

## History on record

- **Early 1800s.** Wikipedia says the Degoodi moved to the right bank of the [Shabelle](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/). It says they settled on Rahanweyn land as tenants, paying tribute for about a century (Wikipedia, Degodia, backup).
- **1895.** It says a war with the [Rahanweyn](/en/society/rahanweyn/) over tribute ended through the Italian officer Vittorio Bottego. It says the Degoodi then signed a treaty declaring themselves Italian subjects (same source).
- **1895.** It says the traveller Arthur Donaldson Smith found them beside the Afgab. It says their land reached east to the Weyib and [Dawa](/en/regions/dawa-river/) rivers (same source).
- **February 1984.** Kenyan security forces held Degodia men at the Wagalla airstrip near Wajir ([Al Jazeera, 2014](https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2014/2/27/kenyas-wagalla-massacre-30-years-later)). See [Wagalla, 1984](/en/history/wagalla-massacre-1984/).

## Elders and customary law

Senior Somali clan leaders carry titles such as *suldaan*, *ugaas* or *issim*. Their role is "mainly judicial and representative" ([UK Home Office, CPIN Somalia: clans, 2019, quoting EASO 2014](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2002542/Somalia_-_Clans_-_CPIN_V3.0e.pdf)).

The Degoodi title is *wabar*. Wikipedia lists twelve *wabar*, from Wabar Cuudow to Wabar Abdille, whom it calls the current holder (Wikipedia, Degodia, backup). See [xeer, Somali customary law](/en/society/xeer-customary-law/).

## In recent conflict records

The EUAA conflict list for Somalia in April 2023 to March 2025 does not name the Degoodi ([EUAA Country Focus 2025, section 1.5.1](https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2025_05_EUAA_COI_Report_Somalia_Country_Focus.pdf)). Most Degoodi live in Kenya and Ethiopia, outside that report's scope. See [clan conflicts, district by district](/en/society/clan-conflicts/).

## Where sources differ

- **Clan family.** Abbink places the Degoodi under [Gugundhabe](/en/society/jijeele/) in the Hawiye. The World Bank chart calls them "Hawiye associates". Wikipedia and Somali Wikipedia trace them to [Saransoor](/en/society/gardere-yakabur-and-mayle/) and Gardheere.
- **Masarre.** Abbink lists Masare as a Degodiye section. Wikipedia lists Masarre as a brother line.
- **Numbers.** Kenya's census gives a national count. The regional shares on Wikipedia are community estimates.

## Read more

- [Gaaljecel](/en/society/gaaljecel/)
- [Hawiye](/en/society/hawiye/)
- [Wagalla, 1984](/en/history/wagalla-massacre-1984/)
- [Somalis in Kenya](/en/diaspora/kenya/)

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