Never, in the history of Somalia’s contemporary governance, has so much political goodwill, both domestic and international, been squandered by anyone as President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has done in the past 12 months. In the early morning hours of 16 May 2022, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud (HSM) was elected as the 10th President of Somalia, marking his second term, following his first from 2012 to 2017. Optimism was high, partly due to his previous experience as president and partly because of the deep unpopularity of his predecessor, Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo, with many relieved that the incumbent had been defeated. However, just over three years later, the outlook in Somalia remains unrelentingly bleak due to HSM’s destabilising political agenda.
The president has squandered significant domestic and international support in the past three years. Even after appointing an incompetent Prime Minister with no track record of leadership to speak of, all Federal Member States’ leaders cooperated closely with HSM, and the Federal Parliament approved all of his legislative priorities for the first two years. And Somalia’s international partners wholeheartedly backed him, from debt forgiveness to lifting of the arms embargo to membership in the coveted East African Community. Piggybacking on the successes of the ma’awiisley in Hiiraan and Middle Shabelle, HSM’s call for a national offensive against Al-Shabaab was welcomed by both the Somali people and international partners alike. As the war was being waged against the terrorists in a manner that can best be described as mediocre, there was still so much hope that HSM could turn things around, even while pursuing divisive domestic politics. This agenda has centred around scrupulous changes to the Provisional Constitution and unilateral electoral reform intended solely for his re-election in 2026.
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