Somalia’s political crisis deepened on Thursday after opposition figures accused President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud of deploying troops to arrest the Supreme Court’s chief justice, shortly after the court ruled that an extension of the president’s term was “unlawful.” The confrontation has pushed the Horn of Africa nation further into uncertainty, compounding a security crisis that already threatens to undo nearly two decades of international military support.
A Court Ruling and a Defiant Response
The Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that the constitutional amendments parliament passed earlier this year should never have applied to Mohamud’s current term, and that he should have left office in May. The court called for a new agreement among political parties within 30 days and for elections to be held within 90 days.
Before the ruling had even been published, the president’s office announced on Facebook that Mohamud was dismissing Chief Justice Bashe Yusuf Ahmed and appointing a replacement, citing “concerns… about the need for an efficient and fair judiciary.” The court responded that the president had no authority to fire the judge, accusing him of attempting “to obstruct the administration of justice in the constitutional case filed before the Supreme Court.”
Opposition Alleges Troops Sent to Court
Former prime minister Hassan Ali Khaire told reporters that the president had “launched an assault on the Supreme Court and deployed troops to its premises” on Thursday. “The chief justice and lawyers are being pursued in their homes for arrest, have been subjected to torture, and the court’s operations have been halted,” he said.
The claims could not be independently verified, but images circulated by Somali media purported to show military forces inside the court’s compound. “Somalia stands at a dangerous juncture. The dismantling of our judiciary is a direct threat to the rule of law,” Khaire said. “I call on all sectors of Somali society to stand up now and defend Somalia’s constitutionalism.”
Reforms at the Heart of the Dispute
President Mohamud has sought to move Somalia toward fully democratic elections, replacing the clan-based system in which elders select representatives. His opponents, however, view the reforms as a power grab, particularly after he declared a “transition period” that granted him an additional year in office when his term ended in May.
Mohumud has argued that constitutional amendments passed by parliament allowed him to remain in office in order to prepare for the country’s first nationwide democratic elections, scheduled for April and May 2027. Most opposition and regional parties boycotted the parliamentary vote on the amendments in March, and some said they were barred from attending. Violence erupted in the capital, Mogadishu, in June as political factions clashed over the issue.
A Security Crisis on Top of a Political One
The standoff comes as Somalia continues to battle a long-running insurgency by Al-Shabaab, the Al-Qaeda-linked militant group that controls large swathes of the country. International donors, frustrated by the lack of progress against the militants and by persistent political turmoil, have been cutting funding for the international military mission that has operated for almost 20 years.
Uganda, the largest contributor to the African Union force, announced this week that it would withdraw all of its troops by the end of 2027. Washington, meanwhile, has cut all donations to a critical United Nations logistics mission on which the military coalition depends.
With the judiciary, the presidency and the opposition locked in open confrontation, and with security partners stepping back, Somalia now faces a convergence of crises that could test the durability of its fragile political order.
