Jealousy in Villa Somalia: Hassan Sheikh’s War Against Somaliland’s Democracy.

Somalia’s President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has become a prisoner of his own jealousy. Two years into his second term, he has turned Villa Somalia into a war room not against al-Shabaab, famine, or corruption — but against Somaliland’s democracy.

It is the bitter irony of Mogadishu politics: Somaliland has what Hassan Sheikh craves but cannot build. Elections, functioning institutions, stability — the very pillars of a state. And each time Hargeisa strengthens its democracy, Hassan Sheikh’s insecurity deepens. Instead of fixing Somalia’s crumbling foundations, he wastes his energy trying to sabotage Somaliland’s international rise.

Diplomats whisper of a leader consumed by comparison. When Somaliland engages Ethiopia, he panics. When Congress debates travel advisories, he rages. When Somaliland’s army parades discipline, he lashes out with propaganda. It is envy in plain sight.

Meanwhile, Somalia under Hassan Sheikh has become what critics call “Somalia, Inc.” — a company run on begging contracts and aid trips. He has circled the globe signing pledges with Qatar, Turkey, and Egypt, but what has it delivered? More debt, more dependency, and more humiliation. He acts like a traveling salesman while Mogadishu rots under insecurity and corruption.

And yet, he keeps returning to his favorite target: Somaliland. His strategy is one of projection — blame Somaliland, block Somaliland, bury Somaliland. But the more he tries, the more the world notices Hargeisa’s difference. Somaliland is not perfect, but next to Mogadishu’s chaos, it shines.

This obsession is Hassan Sheikh’s fatal flaw. It exposes his weakness, isolates his diplomacy, and leaves Somalia unprepared for the storms ahead. Ethiopia is openly discussing Red Sea access. Egypt and Eritrea are arming Somalia’s fragile government. Al-Shabaab still controls swathes of land. Yet Villa Somalia’s energy is wasted on fighting a neighbor that long ago outpaced it.

The humiliation runs deeper. By attacking Somaliland, Hassan Sheikh admits — without saying it — that Somaliland is real. If it were not, why fear it? Why obsess over it? Why chase every foreign leader to block recognition? His jealousy has become Mogadishu’s foreign policy, and it is destroying him.

And here is the grim prediction: the president after him will be worse. If Somalia survives Hassan Sheikh’s term, it will inherit a broken state, an isolated diplomacy, and an army of resentments. Somaliland, meanwhile, will march on.

Whistleblower reveals President and Speaker approved secret deal granting Turkey control over 90% of Somalia’s oil and gas — triggering calls of betrayal and neo-colonialism.

“90% Giveaway”: Somalia’s Oil Surrender to Turkey Sparks Outrage in Parliament

A Somali MP has exposed explosive claims implicating the President and Speaker in a secret oil deal with Turkey that hands 90% of Somalia’s hydrocarbon wealth to Ankara. National sovereignty and political accountability now hang in the balance.

The Federal Parliament of Somalia has been rocked by an explosive declaration from MP Dr. Abdillahi Hashi Abib, who publicly accused President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and Speaker Sheikh Adan Madobe of surrendering 90% of Somalia’s oil and gas wealth to Turkey in a secretive deal that he claims undermines the very sovereignty of the nation.

Standing before the House of the People, Dr. Hashi, a respected member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, revealed that a whistleblower from inside Villa Somalia had furnished him with credible documentation showing both the President and Speaker gave their approval to a deeply controversial hydrocarbons agreement that grants Turkey the lion’s share of Somalia’s natural resources — leaving the Somali people with only a token 10%.

He further disclosed that the President is reported to have defended the lopsided agreement as being “in the best interest of the nation,” a justification that Dr. Hashi forcefully condemned as “a veiled act of neo-colonialism.”

But the accusations don’t stop there. Dr. Hashi warned that in the coming days, he will release notarized documents showing that Ziraat Bank of Turkey violated Somali banking laws, operating under the radar with what appears to be unauthorized coordination with the Central Bank of Somalia.

The implications are staggering. If substantiated, this agreement not only strips Somalia of control over its future economic engine but also potentially violates constitutional procedures, sovereignty norms, and economic governance principles.

Dr. Hashi’s rallying cry was blunt:

“Have the President and the Speaker fulfilled their solemn constitutional oaths to safeguard the interests and sovereignty of the Federal Republic of Somalia?”

Public outrage is mounting. Many in Mogadishu and the wider Somali diaspora are now calling for an emergency parliamentary investigation. Critics are framing the deal as an act of economic treason—a continuation of foreign domination disguised as partnership.

With his final words, Dr. Hashi warned:

“Stay vigilant. The truth will be revealed.”

The Somali public is waiting — and the storm is just beginning.

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Somalia has condemned Israel in the halls of the United Nations. Its ambassador in New York, Abubakar Osman Baale, branded the recent Israeli strike in Doha as a “direct threat to the sovereignty of Qatar.” Mogadishu’s words were clear and defiant: solidarity with Qatar, denunciation of Israel.

But behind the rhetoric lies a far darker, more immediate truth: Somalia is being strangled by Al-Shabab in the south and ISIS offshoots in Puntland’s rugged north.

And no country has mastered the art of precision counterterror warfare more effectively than Israel.

It is a paradox too sharp to ignore. Somalia rails against Israel in public forums, while in private it struggles to contain one of the deadliest extremist insurgencies in the world. Al-Shabab’s bomb-makers are innovating faster than the Somali National Army can adapt. In the north, ISIS fighters are embedding themselves in mountain redoubts that Somali forces have failed to root out for years.

Billions of dollars in Western aid and years of U.S. drone strikes have not broken these networks. If anything, the insurgencies are learning, dispersing, adapting.

Now imagine an alternative: Israeli Air Force squadrons, the same F-35s that flew undetected to Doha, conducting surgical strikes against Al-Shabab leadership compounds or ISIS caves in Puntland.

Israel’s Shin Bet and Mossad running the kind of intelligence penetration operations in Somalia that they have perfected in Gaza and southern Lebanon.

Israeli cyber units dismantling Al-Shabab’s online propaganda in days, not years. Somalia’s terror problem would look radically different.

The irony is brutal. To attract more global aid, Somalia must demonstrate that it is crushing terrorists. But its own military capacity is stretched thin, and its international partners are fatigued.

A secret partnership with Israel would be the most effective military shortcut available. Yet Somalia’s leadership clings to its anti-Israel posture, repeating pan-Arab talking points while jihadists tighten their grip inside its own borders.

History suggests this contradiction cannot last. If Mogadishu continues condemning Israel while failing to deliver security, international patience will run out. Already, Western capitals view Somalia as an endless sinkhole of aid, corruption, and unfinished battles.

At some point, leaders in Washington, London, and even the Gulf will quietly ask: why not let Israel do in Somalia what it has done everywhere else—hunt terrorists with ruthless precision?

The prediction is stark: Somalia will face a moment of reckoning. Either it doubles down on public hostility toward Israel and risks watching its territory further consumed by jihadists, or it swallows political pride and quietly courts the very air force it now condemns.

The reality is that no country, not even the United States, has Israel’s unique blend of operational daring, intelligence depth, and battlefield efficiency.

For Somalia, the war against Al-Shabab and ISIS may ultimately be won—or lost—not in Mogadishu’s speeches at the UN, but in whether it can overcome its own political taboos and accept help from the one air force capable of rewriting its security map.

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No exceptions. No uniforms off duty. Mogadishu enforces the rules ahead of elections.

Somali police have arrested 11 soldiers in Mogadishu for carrying weapons illegally while off duty, as authorities intensify security enforcement ahead of local council elections.

In a statement, the Banadir Regional Police Command said the detained soldiers violated standing security directives that prohibit off-duty personnel from moving around the capital while armed. The rule is part of broader efforts to reduce civilian risk and prevent unauthorized use of weapons in public spaces.

“The 11 suspects are currently in police custody and will be referred to the appropriate court to ensure compliance with the law and to take the necessary legal measures,” the police command said.

Officials described the arrests as part of a wider campaign to strengthen public security in Mogadishu, where security agencies have renewed enforcement of previously issued orders banning off-duty officers from carrying firearms.

The operation comes as Somalia prepares for local council elections scheduled for Thursday, December 25. Security agencies have announced heightened readiness, with nearly 10,000 police officers deployed to secure polling stations and key locations across the capital.

Speaking to the media, Abdullahi Sheikh Ismail (Farataag), Somalia’s Minister of Internal Security, said the Somali Police Force has finalized comprehensive security plans to ensure the elections are conducted peacefully, safely, and fairly.

Authorities say the enforcement drive sends a clear message that security rules apply to all personnel, regardless of rank, as Mogadishu enters a sensitive political period.

A deadline has been set. Ignore it, the opposition warns, and Somalia risks sliding into a constitutional and security crisis.

Somalia’s fragile political equilibrium is facing a new test after the Somali Future Council issued a one-month ultimatum to President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, demanding the convening of inclusive national election talks by January 20, 2026.

In a communiqué released at the conclusion of meetings held in Kismayo between December 18 and 20, the newly formed alliance warned that failure to act would force it to take steps toward organizing an alternative electoral process. The stated aim, the group said, would be to prevent a constitutional vacuum, avert a security breakdown, and reduce the risk of renewed terrorist violence.

The warning goes beyond procedural complaints. During the Kismayo conference, opposition leaders accused the president of presiding over systemic governance failure, alleging that his administration has deepened political divisions, weakened institutions, and stalled development.

The communiqué charged that constitutional amendments have been pushed through without consensus, oversight bodies sidelined, and some federal member states allowed to overstay their legal mandates—changes the group described as a fundamental distortion of Somalia’s political order.

Security featured prominently in the criticism. The Council argued that the fight against Al-Shabaab has lost momentum, with morale within the armed forces eroded by corruption, favoritism, and abuse of power. In their assessment, stalled counterterrorism efforts now intersect with political paralysis, amplifying national risk rather than containing it.

The alliance also painted a bleak economic and humanitarian picture, accusing the federal government of enabling corruption, forced displacement, and the sale of public land. These practices, it said, have undermined confidence among both domestic and foreign investors while worsening hardship for vulnerable communities.

Despite the confrontational tone, the Somali Future Council left the door open to dialogue. It said it is ready to engage the president on a negotiated and transparent election—one it claims should be more advanced and credible than the 2022 process, strengthen local representation, and restore parliamentary legitimacy.

The group firmly rejected ongoing elections in the Banadir region, arguing they amount to a one-party process that violates citizens’ rights. Without resolving the legal status of the capital, the Council said, such elections are unconstitutional. The timing is sensitive: the National Independent Electoral Commission plans to hold one-person, one-vote local council polls in Banadir on December 25.

Formed in October, the Somali Future Council brings together the leadership of Puntland, Jubaland, and members of the Somali Salvation Forum. United by opposition to unilateral electoral moves, the alliance has rejected proceeding toward 2026 polls without broad national consensus.

At the core of the standoff lie unresolved questions: the election model, timing, security conditions, constitutional amendments, and control of the electoral process itself. Analysts warn that pushing ahead without major stakeholders risks reshaping Somalia’s politics in destabilizing ways. In a system long dependent on negotiated balance, they argue, consensus is not a luxury—it is the only viable guardrail against post-election unrest.

One of Somalia’s most reliable partners has not paid on time—and the delay is rippling through an already fragile budget.

The Somali government has confirmed a delay in receiving its annual budget support from Turkey, a key development and security partner, as the country approaches the end of the fiscal year under mounting financial strain.

Finance Minister Bihi Iman Egeh told local media that Turkey has yet to disburse the expected $30 million in budgetary support for this year, breaking a pattern of consistent payments in previous years. “Turkey has been providing budget support regularly in past years,” the minister said. “This year’s support, amounting to $30 million, has been delayed and was not paid on time as usual.”

Egeh said the federal government has relied more heavily this year on assistance from other international partners, including the European Union, the United Nations, and several allied countries, to cover core budget needs. He did not indicate when the Turkish funds might be released.

The delay has drawn attention because of Turkey’s prominent role in Somalia over the past decade, spanning development projects, humanitarian aid, and security cooperation. Ankara has been one of Mogadishu’s most visible partners, making the late disbursement notable even in the absence of an official explanation.

The issue comes at a sensitive moment for Somalia’s public finances. The federal government’s budget—valued at more than $1 billion—has yet to receive parliamentary approval, further tightening cash flow and complicating planning for both federal institutions and regional administrations.

Somalia continues to face persistent fiscal challenges, with government operations heavily dependent on external budget support. The delayed Turkish contribution highlights the vulnerability of that model, particularly when expected funds do not arrive on schedule, and underscores the broader financial pressures confronting the Somali state as the year closes.

He was preparing to leave Somalia with his pregnant wife. Weeks later, he was shot dead in the street.

A young rickshaw driver who had recently won the U.S. Diversity Visa Lottery was shot and killed late Sunday in Mogadishu, police and relatives said, abruptly ending his plans to migrate to the United States with his pregnant wife.

The victim, Abdirisaq Abukar Mohamed, was driving his three-wheeled motorized rickshaw in the Dayniile district when armed men opened fire, striking him in the chest and throat and killing him at the scene, according to family members. He was pronounced dead shortly afterward.

Somali police said a suspect has been arrested and an investigation is underway. In a statement posted on Facebook, Dayniile district police said officers detained Abdullaahi Ahmed Geedi in connection with the killing and that he will be transferred to court. Authorities have not disclosed a motive, and it remains unclear whether the shooting was targeted or random.

Abdirisaq’s wife, Asho Abdi Mohamed, said she learned of her husband’s death through a phone call placed from his mobile phone minutes after the shooting.
“Someone answered his phone and contacted the last person he had called, saying the owner of the phone had been killed,” she said. “That person then reached us, and we went to the area and confirmed his death.”

His body remains at the morgue of Mogadishu’s Erdogan Hospital, formerly Digfeer Hospital. Relatives said the family has delayed burial until those responsible are fully identified and brought before the courts.

“As long as there is uncertainty about who carried out the killing, the family has decided not to bury him,” said Yusuf Absuge, a relative. “Anyone involved must be held accountable.”

Abdirisaq and his wife were among this year’s recipients of the U.S. Diversity Visa Lottery, commonly known as the green card lottery. They applied in 2024 and were notified of their selection in May. Asho said she submitted the application and included her husband as her spouse, resulting in both being selected.

The couple had been scheduled to attend their visa interview earlier this month at the U.S. Embassy in Bangkok but postponed it until February 2026 because Asho is in the final month of pregnancy. Abdirisaq was killed before the rescheduled appointment.

Asked whether she plans to continue the immigration process alone, Asho said her immediate focus is grieving.

Abdirisaq earned a living as a rickshaw driver, a common and often precarious form of transport in Mogadishu. He also held a diploma in laboratory science, completed in 2023, balancing his studies with work. The couple married in July 2024 and were expecting their first child.

In recent years, a number of rickshaw drivers—mostly young men—have been killed in Mogadishu under unclear circumstances, fueling concerns about the safety of informal transport workers in the capital. Police said their criminal investigations unit continues to examine the circumstances surrounding Abdirisaq’s death.

The Fifty-Year Fantasy: Mogadishu Plans a Vote While Missing a State.

The Federal Government of Somalia’s latest announcement—a supposed return to direct, one-person, one-vote elections in Mogadishu after half a century—is being celebrated by officials as a democratic milestone.

In reality, it is a political hologram: visible from afar, dazzling in theory, but impossible to touch in the physical world. You cannot stage a national election in a capital where the government struggles to secure its own ministries, let alone guarantee a safe path to a polling station.

Former President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, in one of the few grounded interventions from the political class, has rejected the plan outright. His reasoning is austere and irrefutable: there is no viable legal foundation, no credible security environment, and no political consensus.

A direct vote, he argues, cannot be conjured from thin air. Trying to launch this electoral experiment without agreement from the opposition is not reform—it is denial. It resembles announcing the launch of a national airline before building a runway.

The government’s counterargument, delivered by Defense Minister Ahmed Moalim Fiqi, accuses critics of sowing instability. It is a familiar posture for governments under strain: redefine scrutiny as sabotage, label disagreement as danger.

Fiqi’s assurances that institutions are aligned and security has “significantly improved” directly contradict the lived reality of the citizens he claims to protect.

If Mogadishu were secure enough to hold a direct election, the opposition would not be able to undermine it simply by boycotting. The entire process would speak for itself.

What is unfolding is the quintessential example of the Somalia Paradox. Mogadishu produces sophisticated policy frameworks, glossy future-vision documents, and high-level conferences in world capitals.

Yet the state repeatedly struggles to execute tasks as basic as municipal governance. Announcing a direct election without resolving structural fragmentation—especially the deeply embedded 4.5 clan quota system—is not democratization. It is theatre.

Voters do not cast ballots on PowerPoint slides. Democracy does not flourish in security briefings or donor conferences. It grows only when a citizen can walk to a polling place without anticipating an explosion, an armed checkpoint, or a militia roadblock.

Somalia’s promise of a one-person, one-vote election will remain what it has been for decades: a beautifully designed blueprint taped to a building with no foundation.

A menu with no kitchen. A state announcing elections before it has secured the street outside the polling station.

Until the federal government confronts this reality—rather than crafting elaborate fantasies for external consumption—the dream of direct elections will remain exactly that: a dream performed, applauded, and forgotten, long before a single ballot is ever cast.

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