Hawo Tako (1925–1948) was a prominent Somali activist.

Biography

Hawo Tako, also known as Xaawo Taako or Hawa Osman, belonged to the duduble Aarsade clan which settles the galgadud and Middle Juba region of Somalia, as well as the Mudug Zone valleys in the Somali Region. A member of SYL, Tako participated in the 1948 riots in Mogadishu that followed the visit of the Four-Power Commission, where she was killed. 14 Somalis were killed during the Mogadishu massacre of 1948, including Hawo Tako, who tried to protect her people. In 1977, the Somali Women's Democratic Organization was established with the support of President Siad Barre in 1977 in memory of Hawo Tako, a female member of the anti-colonialist Somali Youth League, who was killed during the riots (some sources claim she was killed while trying to stop the killing of italians) in 1948.