State Of Somalia Report — 2021

Mogadishu, SOMALIA: This report covers the period from January 2021 to December 2021. It presents and analyzes the main developments in the country with a focus on politics, security, economy, humanitarian issues and the role of external actors.

The country’s political atmosphere was heating up in 2021. The federal elections were a flashpoint between the Federal Government of Somalia, the Federal Member States and the Council of Presidential Candidates.

When the mandates of parliament, the president and the government expired, President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo and the leadership of the House of the People orchestrated a controversial term extension.

This move triggered an armed confrontation in Mogadishu in April 2021.

Dozens of people were killed and tens of thousands were displaced in the subsequent conflict.

When four out of the five Federal Member States and the Council of Presidential Candidates, the prime minister and nearly all international partners rejected the two-year extension, the leadership of the federal government and the member states reached the 27 May agreement. Under the agreement, the president handed over responsibility for steering federal elections and coordinating national security to prime minister Mohamed Hussein Roble.

The agreement had also led to the formation of the National Consultative Council. This high-level body comprises the prime minister, the five presidents of the member states and the governor of the Banadir region.

However, the implementation of the 27 May agreement is still facing enormous challenges that are rooted in the key political actors’ determination to manipulate the results of the dispensation. The NCC, which is tasked with leading the indirect elections,has committed widespread electoral abuses for the seats that have been selected so far.

Read the full report: https://heritageinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/SOS-REPORT-2021-english-version.pdf