Puntland at 30 and the Leadership Question

By Abdisaid M. Ali

By 2028, Puntland will be thirty years old. Its first three decades were largely about constructing and preserving political order. Its fourth must be about what that order can produce. The founding generation established a functioning political community during one of the most difficult periods in Somalia’s modern history. The task now is to convert that inheritance into capable government, impartial institutions and a more productive economy.

Puntland emerged in 1998 through negotiation among communities and political actors who understood that a common political order required accommodation. Authority had to be bargained, competing interests recognised and disputes contained before they threatened the wider settlement. Successive transfers of presidential power reinforced these habits and made political succession one of Puntland’s most valuable achievements. Thirty years of statehood now demand a higher standard, with citizens entitled to expect reliable public services, wider economic opportunity and institutions capable of carrying the state across administrations.

Meeting that standard requires disciplined and responsible leaders supported by modern, talented teams. Good leadership combines inclusion, restraint, respect for the law and responsibility for results, while leaving institutions stronger. Elections therefore shape far more than who holds office. They determine how the state uses time, and five years can strengthen institutions, skills, infrastructure and production or leave another period of opportunity behind.