President Hassan Sheikh: Do Not Let Somalia’s Statehood Collapse on Your Watch

By Abdullahi A. Nor

The greatest asset Somalia possesses today is neither its land nor its natural resources. It is the Federal Government painstakingly rebuilt through more than two decades of sacrifice—from the Arta Peace Conference in 2000 to the peaceful transfer of power on 15 May 2022, when the presidency was entrusted to you – Hassan Sheikh Mohamud. That government embodied the hopes of millions of Somalis who believed the country was finally on the path toward a stable, accountable, and democratic state.

Today, however, many believe that promise is slipping away. The institutions painstakingly rebuilt over two decades have gradually been transformed into a family enterprise, with power concentrated within a narrow political circle rather than exercised through strong, independent state institutions.

Among the opposition’s most serious allegations are claims that large areas of public land in Mogadishu have been sold without transparent accounting of the proceeds, while hundreds of thousands of vulnerable residents—estimated by critics at more than 750,000—have been displaced by controversial land policies. Opposition figures also allege that Somali state-owned properties abroad, including embassy compounds in Europe and Africa, have been disposed of without public disclosure of how the proceeds were managed. These allegations remain fiercely thought and continue to fuel political controversy.