Defence Portfolio May Go to Mahad Salad After Somali Cabinet Reshuffle

[Deeq A.]

The Director of Somali National Intelligence and Security Agency Mahad Mohammed Salad (left) and his Ethiopian counterpart Temesgen Tiuneh signed an intelligence-sharing agreement in 2022.

Mogadishu (PP News Desk) — If the reports about “the planned appointment” of Mahad Salad as the Defence Minister of Somalia are true, the political situation for Somalia may worsen. Mahad was the director of the National Intelligence and Security Agency (NISA) until he was replaced by Abdullahi Sanbaloolshe earlier this year. The decision to sack Mahad was related to the intelligence-sharing agreement he signed with his Ethiopian counterpart in 2022, before Somalia signed a defence pact with Ethiopia in December 2023.

Mahad was tasked to submit a report to the President of Somalia, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, on the rationale for forming closer defence  ties with Ethiopia . Mahad recommended building on ties between the TPLF regime and the post-transition Federal Government of Somalia and highlighted Ethiopia’s role in forming the Ahlu Sunna Wal Jama’a paramilitary group, once based in Galgaduud, the stronghold of Mahad Salad.

Mahad accompanied President Mohamud on his visit to Egypt in 2022. Mahad’s tenure as NISA director was marked by nepotism, where he employed officers selected based on sub-clan affiliations. “If he is appointed Defence Minister, the risk of national army matériel falling into the hands of militias associated with him is high,” said a journalist in Mogadishu. The lopsidedness of the defence portfolio would pose a serious threat to Somalia’s national security, as the President, Defence Minister and the Commander of the National Army would all belong to the same clan if Mahad is appointed. The poorly discussed defence pact between the Federal Government of Somalia and Ethiopia still has the potential to drag Somalia into the vortex of the Ethiopia-Egypt rivalry, with Cairo aiming to deploy peacekeeping forces in parts of southern Somalia.

This week, Ethiopia deployed more troops in Gedo, citing the threat posed by Al-Shabaab and the Jubaland crisis as reasons for maintaining its forces in Somalia. Puntland Post has learned that the Ethiopian government has diplomatically invoked the defence pact with Somalia as a basis for “protecting its interests.” The Federal Government of Somalia still considers the defence agreement with Ethiopia valid.

© Puntland Post, 2024

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