Somalia’s Federal System: Two Decades of Tangible Institution-Building

[Deeq A.]

As President of Puntland State (1998–2004) and later of the Federal Republic of Somalia (2004–2008), President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed never wielded unchecked authority over the legislature.

Mogadishu (PP Editorial) —Twenty years ago, Somalia was experimenting with its first federal government, then based in Jowhar. That the federal system delivered tangible institution-building results is indisputable. Federal Member States have been formed, Somalia now has a bicameral legislature, and three presidential elections were held in Somalia in 2012, 2017 and 2022.

The late President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed left a governance legacy remembered for a parliament riven by dissent, which eventually split into two groups following the emergence of the Union of Islamic Courts. Ironically, it was the very warlords involved in forming the first federal government who later opposed the new federal dispensation.

It was only when the warlords, operating under the infamous Counterterrorism Alliance in 2006, clashed with the Union of Islamic Courts that the federal government of Somalia realised a foreign country was providing funding to a consortium of warlords in Mogadishu. President Yusuf subscribed to the view that a balance of political power could be maintained between the federal government and Puntland State, then the only functioning sub-national autonomous administration. His theories might have been revisited after the formation of Federal Member States, many of which greatly benefited from the federal system.

Governance under federalism has been facing  a significant setback since  2009 when the Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia (ARS) agreed to peace talks in Djibouti, resulting in President Ahmed’s resignation in December 2008. The ARS, formed in Eritrea in 2007,  shaped the new 2009 parliament and secured the privilege to select 50% of MPs for the expanded Somali parliament. Since then, political power in Somalia has shifted toward a new generation of Mogadishu-based political elites: Islah and Aala Sheikh.

In 2006, the Union of Islamic Courts outlawed the Islah wing, which had played a major role in reviving the education system in Mogadishu and surrounding regions. However, Islah, under a new grouping, managed to reassert its political influence in 2012 when Hassan Sheikh Mohamud was elected president.

The Aala Sheikh clique, led by former Somali President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, lacks the professional and clan-based grassroots networks to form broad alliances across Somalia. In one of his book launch events, former Somali Prime Minister Abdiweli Mohamed Ali revealed that President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, then relatively unknown in political circles, “came to me in 2012 and asked me to withdraw my candidacy in support of his.” Dr Ali expressed astonishment at the bold request, which highlighted the significant political leverage of the Islah network, now rebranded as Damul Jadiid. Its trial-and-error approach to politics bears fruit, provided it is not overstretched.

This is where the legacy of President Ahmed becomes instructive for resolving Somalia’s major political challenges. The federal system has evolved but remains riddled with contradictions. Who can prevent the bicameral legislature from being captured by the executive branch? If Federal Member States are undermined by centralism, evidenced by the executive’s control over sub-national parliaments, it will be difficult to challenge the Federal Government’s alleged power grabs.

It is worth noting that the bicameral legislature, whose members were selected by the Federal Member States, has amended several articles of the federal constitution. As President of Puntland State (1998–2004) and later of the Federal Republic of Somalia (2004–2008), President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed never had unchecked power over the legislature. That is a legacy worth preserving, and learning from and at national and sub-national levels in Somalia.

© Puntland Post, 2025

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